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Cuanto más pescamos aquí, menos pican los peces.

Cuanto más pescamos aquí, menos pican los peces.
The more we fish here, the less the fish bite.
From Lesson 310:Proportional comparisons (cuanto más… más)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Cuanto más pescamos aquí, menos pican los peces.

Why does the sentence start with Cuanto más instead of translating 'the more' literally?
In English we say 'the more... the less...', but Spanish uses the specific structure cuanto más... menos... for proportional comparisons. You cannot translate the English article 'the' here. Because it modifies the verb pescamos (we fish), cuanto functions as an adverb, meaning its ending does not change to match any nouns.
Why use peces instead of pescados for the fish here?
Here is a quick refresher from earlier levels: peces refers to live fish that are still in their natural habitat, which is why we use it while they are swimming around the bait. Once a fish has been caught or prepared as food, it becomes pescado.
What does the verb pican mean in this context?
It comes from the verb picar. While it is commonly used to mean to chop, to sting, or to itch, in the specific context of fishing it means to bite the hook or bait.
Why does the subject los peces come after the verb pican?
Word order in Spanish is quite flexible. When a clause starts with a comparative word like menos, it is very common and natural to put the verb before the subject. Saying menos pican los peces sounds much more natural to a native speaker than menos los peces pican.

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