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

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What does не столько ..., сколько ... mean in Russian grammar?

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.

Why are столько and сколько used here? Do they literally mean so much and how much?

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.