Breakdown of Чем больше мы тренируемся, тем лучше становится результат.
мы
we
результат
result
чем
than / the (in comparisons)
лучше
better
больше
more (quantity or size) / no longer, anymore
тренироваться
to train
тем
the (in comparisons)
становиться
to become (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Чем больше мы тренируемся, тем лучше становится результат.
How exactly does the чем ..., тем ... structure translate to "the more ..., the better ..." here?
To say "the [more] ..., the [more] ..." in Russian, you use the formula чем + comparative word, тем + comparative word. Here, чем больше is "the more", and тем лучше is "the better". Think of it literally as "By what amount more ..., by that amount better ...".
Why is the word order in the second half становится результат (becomes the result) instead of результат становится (the result becomes)?
Russian word order is very flexible. In чем ..., тем ... constructions, it is very common and natural to place the verb (становится) immediately after the comparative word (лучше), and put the subject (результат) at the end. Saying тем лучше результат становится is also grammatically fine, but the order used here sounds much more native.
Both verbs (тренируемся and становится) have reflexive endings (-ся or -сь). Why is that?
They are reflexive for slightly different reasons. Тренироваться (to train, to practice) is used because we are training ourselves; if you were coaching someone else, you would use the non-reflexive тренировать. Становиться (to become) is just a verb that is always reflexive. Also notice the spelling rule: we use -сь after a vowel (тренируемся) and -ся after a consonant (становится).
Doesn't the verb становиться (to become) usually require the Instrumental case? Why is результат in the Nominative case here?
You are right that становиться takes the Instrumental case for what the subject turns into (for example, "He became a doctor" is Он стал врачом). However, in this sentence, результат is the subject ("the result becomes better"), so it must be in the Nominative case. The word describing what it becomes is лучше (better), which is a comparative adverb and doesn't change for case.
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