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Mientras más sol reciben, más grandes son las hojas.

Mientras más sol reciben, más grandes son las hojas.
The more sun they receive, the bigger the leaves are.
From Lesson 213:Proportional comparisons (mientras más... más...)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Mientras más sol reciben, más grandes son las hojas.

English uses "the" twice here ("the more sun", "the bigger"). Why aren't there any definite articles like "el" or "lo" in the Spanish sentence?
In Spanish proportional comparisons, you don't translate that "the" at all. The phrase mientras más (or mientras menos) stands on its own. Adding an article, like saying el mientras más, would be grammatically incorrect.
I've also learned "cuanto más" for "the more". Could I use that instead of "mientras más" here?
Yes, absolutely! Cuanto más sol reciben means the exact same thing as Mientras más sol reciben. Both are correct, but mientras más is especially common in spoken Latin American Spanish.
Why is the word order "más grandes son las hojas" instead of "las hojas son más grandes"?
In this "the more... the more..." structure, the compared piece (más grandes) must come right after the comma. After that, Spanish naturally prefers to put the verb (son) before the subject (las hojas) to keep the sentence flowing smoothly, though you will sometimes hear the subject placed first.
Why is "grandes" plural when "sol" is singular?
Because grandes describes the leaves (las hojas), not the sun (el sol). Even when the sentence structure gets split up in a comparison like this, adjectives still have to match the noun they are describing in singular/plural and masculine/feminine forms.

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