Breakdown of Чем сложнее задача, тем интереснее её решать.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
решать
to decide
задача
task
сложный
difficult, complex
интересно
interesting (adverb)
чем
than / the (in comparisons)
тем
the (in comparisons)
Questions & Answers about Чем сложнее задача, тем интереснее её решать.
How do чем and тем create the 'the more... the more...' meaning here?
Чем introduces the first part of the comparison, and тем introduces the result. You simply put a comparative word right after each of them. So Чем сложнее..., тем интереснее... means 'The more difficult..., the more interesting...'.
Where is the verb in the first half of the sentence (Чем сложнее задача)?
There is no verb because Russian omits the present tense of the verb 'to be'. Literally, it means 'The more difficult [is] the task'. If we changed it to the past tense, a verb would appear: Чем сложнее была задача... (The more difficult the task was...).
Why use её instead of the neutral это for 'it'?
Её refers back to задача (task). Since задача is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine pronoun to say 'solve it'. It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb решать.
Why does the sentence use the imperfective verb решать (to solve) rather than the perfective решить?
The focus here is on the actual process of working on the task. Saying that a task is interesting to solve means the activity itself is engaging, which requires the imperfective aspect.
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