Što je više delova, to je skica važnija.

The more components there are, the more important the sketch is.

Breakdown of Što je više delova, to je skica važnija.

• biti: to be
• važan: important
• više: more
• deo: a component or part

Questions & Answers about Što je više delova, to je skica važnija.

What does što ..., to ... mean in this sentence?

This is a very common Serbian pattern used to express a correlation:

što X, to Y = the more X, the more Y
or more generally as X increases, Y increases

So:

Što je više delova, to je skica važnija.
means something like:

The more parts there are, the more important the sketch is.

This pattern is extremely useful in Serbian. For example:

• Što više učim, to više znam. = The more I study, the more I know.
• Što je teže, to je zanimljivije. = The harder it is, the more interesting it is.

Here, što does not mean what. It is part of this fixed comparative structure.

Why is delova used, and not delovi?

Because više usually requires the genitive plural of countable nouns.

• deo = part
• delovi = parts (nominative plural)
• delova = of parts / parts (genitive plural form)

After quantity words like više, manje, mnogo, nekoliko, Serbian often uses the genitive:

• više delova = more parts
• mnogo ljudi = many people
• nekoliko knjiga = several books

So više delova is the normal and correct form.