Learn Hardcore Russian: Чем чаще ты повторяешь, тем лучше запоминаешь. - The more often you repeat, the better you remember.

It’s a correlative comparative that expresses proportional change: “the X‑er … the Y‑er.” The pattern is: Чем + comparative phrase, тем + comparative phrase. Both halves must be parallel and use comparatives (often adverbs or adjectives). Here: Чем чаще …, тем лучше ….

Why is there a comma?

Because you’re joining two correlated clauses. Standard punctuation puts a comma between them: Чем …, тем …. (A semicolon appears only in very long clauses; a comma is the norm.)

Why is ты omitted in the second clause?

Russian often drops repeated subjects when they’re obvious from context. The second ты is understood from the first clause. You can include it for emphasis without changing the meaning: … тем лучше ты запоминаешь.

Can I use formal/plural вы instead of ты?

Yes. Conjugate the verbs accordingly:

Чем чаще вы повторяете, тем лучше (вы) запоминаете. You can keep or omit вы in the second clause.

Why use запоминать and not помнить?

запоминать = to memorize, to commit to memory (a process).
помнить = to remember, to retain (a state/result). With repetition, you usually talk about the effectiveness of memorizing, hence запоминаешь. You can say тем лучше помнишь to stress retention rather than the process; both are possible with a slight nuance difference.

Why are both verbs in the present? How do I talk about the past or the future?

Present here is the generic/habitual present (“as a rule”). For other times:

Past (habitual): Чем чаще он повторял, тем лучше запоминал.
Specific future result: Чем чаще ты будешь повторять, тем лучше (ты) запомнишь.
Present + present = general truth; future (often perfective) in the second clause = predicted result.

Can I say тем лучше запомнишь instead of тем лучше запоминаешь?

Yes, if you’re predicting a concrete outcome (e.g., for an upcoming exam): Чем чаще будешь повторять, тем лучше запомнишь. The original запоминаешь states a general principle.

What are чаще and лучше grammatically?

They are comparative adverbs:

чаще = comparative of часто (“often” → “more often”)
лучше = comparative of хорошо (“well” → “better”) They modify verbs (повторяешь, запоминаешь), not nouns.

Can I use более часто or более хорошо?

более часто is grammatical but sounds bookish/stiff; чаще is the normal choice.
более хорошо is not idiomatic; use лучше (the suppletive comparative of хорошо).

What exactly is чем here? Isn’t чем also “than”?

Same word, different uses. In comparisons, чем = “than” (e.g., старше, чем он). In the correlative pattern чем … тем …, чем functions as a particle that introduces the first comparative clause (“the more/less …”). Historically it’s an instrumental form, but you don’t need to think about cases to use this pattern.

Is тем required in the second clause?

Yes, in standard usage the pair чем … тем … is obligatory. Without тем, the sentence feels incomplete. (Standalone Тем лучше! = “So much the better!” is a separate idiomatic use.)

Can I change the word order?

Some flexibility is fine, but keep each comparative right after чем/тем and don’t move чем away from the clause start.

Natural: Чем чаще ты повторяешь, тем лучше (ты) запоминаешь.
Also natural (dropping pronouns): Чем чаще повторяешь, тем лучше запоминаешь.
Not idiomatic: Ты чем чаще повторяешь, тем лучше запоминаешь. (the чем-clause should come first)

How do I pronounce this? Where is the stress?

чем — “chyem”
ча́ще — stress on the first syllable: “CHA-shshe” (the “щ” sound is like prolonged “shsh”)
ты — “ty” (with the Russian vowel ы, a back “i” sound)
повторя́ешь — paff-ta-ryá-yesh (the stress is on -ря́-; the вт cluster sounds like фт)
лу́чше — “LOO-shshe” (often pronounced with a double “sh” sound)
запомина́ешь — za-pa-mee-NÁ-yesh (stress on -на́-)

Why is there no object after повторяешь?

It’s implied (what you study). Russian often omits obvious objects. You can add one:

Чем чаще ты повторяешь слова/правила/материал, тем лучше их/его запоминаешь.
Use их for plurals (слова, правила) and его for a masculine/neuter singular (материал).

Is тем лучше the same as тем более?

No.

тем лучше = “the better (for it)” or “so much the better,” and it’s the second half of the чем … тем … pair.
тем более = “all the more,” “let alone,” used for adding a stronger reason: Я не пойду, тем более что устал.
As a standalone maxim, you’ll also hear: Чем больше, тем лучше. (“The more, the better.”)