📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 12 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 3 · Los conectores raros
Tanto más cuanto que
Module 13 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 12 of 30: Tanto más cuanto que adds a reason that makes the first one stronger. On this page: 10 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
tanto más cuanto que
all the more so because
TAHN-toh mahs KWAHN-toh keh
tanto menos cuanto que
all the less so because
TAHN-toh MEH-nohs KWAHN-toh keh
máxime
especially (formal)
MAHK-see-meh
reforzar
to strengthen
rreh-fohr-SAR
debilitar
to weaken
deh-bee-lee-TAR
el espejo
the mirror
ehl ehs-PEH-hoh
sorprendente
astonishing
sohr-prehn-DEHN-teh
con conocimiento de causa
with full knowledge
kohn koh-noh-see-MYEHN-toh deh KOW-sah
el argumento
the argument
ehl ar-goo-MEHN-toh
tú refuerzas el argumento
you strengthen the argument
too rreh-FWEHR-sahs ehl ar-goo-MEHN-toh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Tanto más cuanto que adds a reason that makes the first one stronger. No iré, tanto más cuanto que estoy enfermo — all the more so because I am ill. Máxime does the same job in one formal word: no iré, máxime estando enfermo.
Y también · And also
Its mirror, tanto menos cuanto que, weakens. And tanto más can follow an adjective: es tanto más sorprendente cuanto que conocía el expediente.
Ojo · Watch out
tanto más cuanto que strengthens a reason; tanto menos cuanto que weakens it. After an adjective it keeps its cuanto que: es tanto más sorprendente cuanto que conocía el expediente. máxime is one formal word, stressed on the first syllable.
reforzar, presente — the table
yo refuerzo · tú refuerzas · él/ella/usted refuerza · nosotros reforzamos · ustedes refuerzan · ellos/ellas refuerzan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with tanto más cuanto que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out reforzar, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.