Новая грамматическая тема: конструкция «не столько ..., сколько ...» помогает точнее сравнивать причины и чувства.

It is a fixed comparison pattern that means something like:

• not so much ..., as ...
• less ..., and more ...
• not exactly ..., but rather ...

It is used when you want to correct or refine a comparison between two things.

For example:

• Это не столько злость, сколько страх.
  = It is not so much anger as fear.

So in the sentence you were given, the text is saying that this construction helps you compare things like causes and feelings more precisely.

Historically and literally, yes, they are related to the idea of quantity:

• столько = so much / that much
• сколько = how much / as much as

But in не столько ..., сколько ..., you should learn the whole expression as one grammatical pattern. In this construction, it does not always talk about literal quantity. Very often it compares the degree, importance, or true nature of two explanations.

So:

• не столько причина, сколько оправдание
  does not mean literal measurable amount
  it means not so much a cause as an excuse

Think of it as a set phrase, not just separate words.

Yes, that is the closest English equivalent.

Examples:

• Он сделал это не столько из вежливости, сколько из страха.
  = He did it not so much out of politeness as out of fear.

• Это не столько спор, сколько недоразумение.
  = It is not so much an argument as a misunderstanding.

English speakers can use this parallel to understand the Russian structure very naturally.

The colon introduces an explanation of what the new grammar topic is.

So the structure is:

• Новая грамматическая тема:
  the construction ... helps ...

This is like English:

• New grammar topic: the construction ... helps ...

In other words, the part after the colon explains or names the topic.

Because конструкция is the subject of the verb помогает.

The core of the sentence is:

• конструкция помогает
  = the construction helps

Since it is the subject, it stays in the nominative singular:

• конструкция = nominative singular feminine

Because its subject is singular:

• конструкция = one construction
• therefore помогает = singular, 3rd person

If the subject were plural, the verb would also be plural:

• конструкции помогают
  = the constructions help

This is a very common Russian pattern:

• помогать + infinitive
  = to help do something

So:

• помогает сравнивать
  = helps compare

Other examples:

• Это помогает понять правило.
  = This helps understand the rule.
• Музыка помогает расслабиться.
  = Music helps relax.

So the infinitive сравнивать tells you what the construction helps you do.

Точнее is the comparative form of точно / точный, and here it means:

• more precisely
• more accurately

So:

• помогает точнее сравнивать
  = helps compare more precisely

Russian often uses the comparative adverb this way, without needing an extra word like more.

Compare:

• быстро = quickly

• быстрее = more quickly

• точно = precisely
• точнее = more precisely

Both are in the accusative plural, because they are the direct objects of сравнивать.

• сравнивать что?
  = to compare what?

Answer:

• причины
• чувства

Forms:

• причина → причины
• чувство → чувства

So the phrase means:

• to compare causes and feelings

No. It is very flexible. It can be used with nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositional phrases, and larger parts of a sentence.

Examples:

• Это не столько проблема, сколько задача.
  noun + noun

• Он не столько злой, сколько уставший.
  adjective + adjective

• Она не столько жаловалась, сколько пыталась объяснить.
  verb + verb

• Он сделал это не столько ради денег, сколько ради принципа.
  phrase + phrase

The main idea is always contrast with refinement: the second part is usually the more accurate description.

Not necessarily. Usually it means the first thing is less true, less important, or less accurate than the second thing.

For example:

• Он говорил не столько сердито, сколько устало.
  This does not mean he was not angry at all.
  It means tiredness is the better description.

So the construction often softens or corrects a statement rather than completely rejecting it.

The core pair не столько ..., сколько ... is fixed, but the surrounding sentence can vary.

For example:

• Это не столько вина, сколько ошибка.
• Он не столько спорил, сколько уточнял.
• Не столько страх, сколько смущение было у него в голосе.

So the expression itself stays the same, but what comes before or after it can move depending on style and emphasis.

It is mostly neutral to slightly formal. It is very common in writing, explanation, analysis, and thoughtful speech.

You will often see it in:

• essays
• journalism
• academic writing
• careful spoken Russian

It is not unnatural in conversation, but it sounds a bit more structured than very casual everyday speech.

The sentence can be broken down like this:

• Новая грамматическая тема:
  New grammar topic:

• конструкция не столько ..., сколько ...
  the не столько ..., сколько ... construction

• помогает
  helps

• точнее сравнивать причины и чувства
  compare causes and feelings more precisely

So the full grammatical skeleton is:

• [Subject] конструкция
• [Verb] помогает
• [Infinitive phrase] точнее сравнивать причины и чувства

That is the basic structure holding the sentence together.