Cu cât rădăcina e mai mare, cu atât e mai puternică.

It is a very common Romanian comparative pattern meaning the more/less ..., the more/less ....

So:

• Cu cât rădăcina e mai mare, cu atât e mai puternică.
• literally: By how much the root is bigger, by that much it is stronger
• natural English: The bigger the root, the stronger it is.

You can use this structure with many adjectives or adverbs:

• Cu cât studiezi mai mult, cu atât înveți mai repede.
  The more you study, the faster you learn.

• Cu cât e mai greu, cu atât e mai interesant.
  The harder it is, the more interesting it is.

A useful formula is:

• cu cât + clause with comparative
• cu atât + clause with comparative

Because rădăcina is the definite form of rădăcină.

In Romanian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun, unlike English, where you put the before it.

• rădăcină = a root
• rădăcina = the root

So the sentence talks about the root, not just a root.

This is one of the biggest differences from English:

• English: the root
• Romanian: rădăcina

E is the short, very common spoken and written form of este (is).

So these mean the same thing:

• rădăcina e mai mare
• rădăcina este mai mare

And:

• e mai puternică
• este mai puternică

Using e sounds natural and everyday. Using este may sound a bit more formal, careful, or emphatic depending on context.

So this sentence could also be:

• Cu cât rădăcina este mai mare, cu atât este mai puternică.

That is perfectly correct too.

Because mai is how Romanian normally forms the comparative of adjectives and adverbs.

• mare = big

• mai mare = bigger

• puternică = strong
• mai puternică = stronger

In this sentence, both parts are comparative:

• the bigger
• the stronger

So Romanian uses:

• mai mare
• mai puternică

This is similar to English more + adjective, except Romanian uses mai with almost all adjectives, even ones that English sometimes changes internally:

• mare → mai mare = big → bigger
• bun → mai bun = good → better
  (Romanian still uses mai, even where English has an irregular form)

Because puternică agrees with rădăcina, which is feminine singular.

In Romanian, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

• rădăcină is feminine
• rădăcina is feminine singular definite
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular: puternică

Compare:

• un copac puternic = a strong tree
  (copac is masculine)

• o rădăcină puternică = a strong root
  (rădăcină is feminine)

In your sentence, the second clause leaves out the noun, but the adjective still matches the implied noun:

• rădăcina ... e mai puternică
• literally: the root ... is stronger

Yes. The subject is understood from the first clause.

The full idea is:

• Cu cât rădăcina e mai mare, cu atât rădăcina e mai puternică.

But repeating rădăcina would sound heavy and unnecessary, so Romanian leaves it out, just as English often does:

• The bigger the root, the stronger it is.

Romanian often omits subjects when they are clear from context. Here, e mai puternică clearly refers back to rădăcina.

So you can think of the second clause as:

• cu atât [rădăcina] e mai puternică

with the noun understood.

Because in this construction, Romanian strongly prefers the paired structure:

• Cu cât ..., cu atât ...

This pattern frames the whole comparison. The focus is on the relationship between the two clauses, not just on a normal subject-verb-adjective order.

So:

• Cu cât rădăcina e mai mare, cu atât e mai puternică.

is the natural standard structure.

You may sometimes see small variations in word order for style or emphasis, but the core pairing cu cât ... cu atât ... is the important thing to recognize.

In informal speech, sometimes speakers shorten things, but for learners, the safest and most standard form is to keep both parts:

• Cu cât ..., cu atât ...

So you should learn and use:

• Cu cât rădăcina e mai mare, cu atât e mai puternică.

Leaving out cu atât may sound incomplete or less standard in many contexts. Since this is a fixed comparative pattern, it is best to keep the full structure until you are very comfortable with Romanian.

A rough breakdown is:

• Cu cât = the more / by how much
• rădăcina = the root
• e = is
• mai mare = bigger / more big
• cu atât = the more / by that much
• e = is
• mai puternică = stronger / more strong

So a very literal English version would be something like:

• By how much the root is bigger, by that much it is stronger.

That sounds unnatural in English, but it helps show how the Romanian structure works.

The best natural translation is:

• The bigger the root, the stronger it is.

A practical pronunciation guide:

• rădăcina ≈ ruh-duh-CHEE-na
• cât ≈ something like kuht with a central vowel, not exactly English u
• puternică ≈ poo-TER-nee-kuh

A few important points:

• ă is a short central vowel, like a relaxed uh
• â / î is a deeper central vowel, a sound English does not really have
• că / ci / ce can change pronunciation depending on the letters around them
• in rădăcina, the ci is pronounced like chee

A more detailed pronunciation for the whole sentence is roughly:

• Koo kuht ruh-duh-CHEE-na e mai MA-reh, koo uh-TAHT e mai poo-TER-nee-kuh.

Not perfect IPA, but useful for an English speaker.

This sentence contains several Romanian diacritics:

• ă in rădăcina
• â in cât
• ă in puternică

These are not optional decorations; they represent different sounds and are part of correct spelling.

ă

Usually a short, unstressed uh-like sound.

Examples here:

• ră-
• -nă
• -că

â

A distinct Romanian vowel with no exact English equivalent. It is more central and tighter than ă.

Example here:

• cât

For a learner, it is very important to notice that:

• a
• ă
• â / î

are different vowels in Romanian.

It is basically neutral standard Romanian.

Why it feels natural:

• cu cât ..., cu atât ... is a normal standard pattern
• e instead of este makes it slightly more conversational, but still completely standard
• the sentence sounds natural in both speech and writing

If you wanted a slightly more formal or careful version, you could say:

• Cu cât rădăcina este mai mare, cu atât este mai puternică.

But the original version is already perfectly correct and natural.

No. In Romanian, each comparative adjective normally needs its own mai.

So you say:

• mai mare
• mai puternică

Not:

• mai mare, cu atât puternică ❌

Both parts of the comparison need the comparative form. This is similar to English needing both comparatives in:

• the bigger ..., the stronger ...

not:

• the bigger ..., the strong ... ❌

So in Romanian, keep mai with each comparative adjective.

Yes. Romanian can use this pattern with mai puțin as well.

For example:

• Cu cât e mai puțin apă, cu atât planta suferă mai mult.
  The less water there is, the more the plant suffers.

So the pattern is flexible:

• cu cât ... mai ...
• cu atât ... mai ...
• or with mai puțin when needed

In your sentence, both sides use the normal comparative with mai:

• mai mare
• mai puternică