Cu cât udăm, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.

It is the Romanian pattern for the more ... the more ..., the more ... the bigger ..., or more generally the X-er ..., the Y-er ....

So:

Cu cât udăm, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.
= The more we water, the bigger the crop becomes.

This is a very common correlative structure in Romanian.

Because this is a fixed Romanian construction:

• cu cât = introduces the first comparative idea
• cu atât = introduces the result or matching increase in the second clause

You should learn it as a pair:

• Cu cât înveți mai mult, cu atât înțelegi mai bine.
• Cu cât e mai cald, cu atât plantele cresc mai repede.

It does not translate word-for-word very neatly into natural English, but functionally it matches the more ..., the more ...

Yes, it is the same basic word, but here it is used inside a fixed comparative pattern.

On its own, cât can mean things like:

• how much
• how many
• how far
• how long, depending on context

In cu cât ... cu atât ..., it no longer feels like a direct question word. Instead, it helps build the idea of the more / the greater the amount.

So a learner should recognize that this is a special structure, not just a literal use of cât.

Udăm is the 1st person plural present tense of a uda = to water.

So:

• eu ud = I water
• tu uzi = you water
• el/ea udă = he/she waters
• noi udăm = we water

Romanian often leaves the subject pronoun out when the verb ending already shows the person clearly. So udăm already means we water without needing noi.

If you wanted extra emphasis, you could say:

Cu cât noi udăm, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.

But normally noi is unnecessary.

Romanian often leaves out the direct object when it is obvious from context or meant in a general sense.

Here, udăm means something like we do more watering or we water more, and the thing being watered is understood: the plants, the field, the crop, etc.

If you wanted to make it explicit, you could say for example:

• Cu cât udăm mai mult plantele, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.
• Cu cât o udăm mai mult, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.

But the shorter version is perfectly natural if the context is already clear.

Devine means becomes, while este means is.

So:

• recolta devine mai mare = the crop becomes bigger
• recolta este mai mare = the crop is bigger

In this sentence, devine emphasizes change or increase over time: as watering increases, the crop gets bigger.

That fits the logic very well. Romanian could sometimes use este, but devine is more precise here because it shows a process.

Recolta means the harvest or the crop, depending on context.

It is the noun recoltă with the definite article attached:

• recoltă = harvest / crop
• recolta = the harvest / the crop

Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

So:

• fată = girl
• fata = the girl
• recoltă = harvest
• recolta = the harvest

Mai mare is the comparative form meaning bigger / larger.

• mare = big / large
• mai mare = bigger / larger

In Romanian, many comparatives are formed with mai + adjective:

• mai bun = better
• mai frumos = more beautiful
• mai repede = faster / more quickly

So in this sentence, recolta devine mai mare means the crop becomes bigger.

In this sentence, mare does not change form because it already works with a feminine singular noun like recolta.

Romanian adjectives often agree with the noun in gender and number, but some adjectives have forms that are identical in some categories.

Here:

• recolta = feminine singular
• mare = singular form
• mai mare = comparative, still matching the noun appropriately

If the noun were plural, you would get:

Cu cât udăm, cu atât recoltele devin mai mari.
= The more we water, the bigger the harvests/crops become.

Notice the plural changes:

• recoltele = the crops/harvests
• devin = become
• mai mari = bigger

Romanian uses the present tense here for a general truth, just like English often does.

This sentence is not mainly about one specific moment. It expresses a general relationship:

more watering -> bigger crop

So the present tense sounds natural:

• Cu cât udăm, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.

English does something similar:

• The more we water, the bigger the crop gets.

It is a statement about a rule or tendency, not necessarily about one single event happening right now.

Yes, and many learners may actually expect it.

You can say:

Cu cât udăm mai mult, cu atât recolta devine mai mare.

This is often even clearer, because it explicitly says the more we water.

Without mai mult, the sentence is still understandable, especially in context, but adding it makes the comparative meaning more explicit.

So both are possible, but:

• Cu cât udăm, cu atât recolta devine mai mare. = more compact
• Cu cât udăm mai mult, cu atât recolta devine mai mare. = clearer and more explicit

Yes, the comma is standard here because the sentence has two linked clauses:

• Cu cât udăm
• cu atât recolta devine mai mare

The comma separates the first comparative clause from the second. This is the normal punctuation for this structure.

You could use that as a rough grammar note for yourself, but it is not good natural English.

A more useful way to understand it is:

• Cu cât ... cu atât ... = the more ... the more ...

So the best natural translation is something like:

• The more we water, the bigger the crop becomes.
• The more we water, the larger the harvest gets.

Literal translations can help you see the structure, but they should not be copied into natural English.