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There is a clause pattern 「XければXほどY」. For example, 「近【ちか】ければ近【ちか】いほど便【べん】利【り】」
which means something like "the nearer it is, the more convenient it will be".
Can I shorten the clause to 「近【ちか】いほど便【べん】利【り】」? Will it have the same
meaning?

But I have a feeling when I use 「XほどY」 when X and Y are opposite to each
other, it will give the meaning of "X yet Y" in English. For example,
「近【ちか】いほど届【とど】かない」 would give the meaning of "close yet unreachable", in a
poetic sense. Am I right?
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2011-06-01T05:15:58.687
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question
grammar clause-pattern
Can 「XければXほどY」 clause pattern be shortened to 「XほどY」?
Yes, you can shorten it and it will have the same meaning.
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2011-06-01T05:31:28.780
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"chikakereba chikai hodo benri" and "chikai hodo benri" have similar meaning.

but "chikai hodo todokanai" is not correct usage, if you want to join positve
(chikai) + negative (todokanai), you need to use "kedo" like "chikai kedo
todokanai"
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2011-06-01T05:36:11.573
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The answer to the first question is yes.

The answer to the second question is no. 近いほど届かない (chikai hodo todokanai)
means “the closer it (or you, he, she, …) is, the more unreachable it (or you,
he, she, …) becomes,” exactly in the same way as 近いほど便利 (chikai hodo benri)
means “the closer it is, the more convenient it becomes.” And in the sentence
“the closer you are, the more unreachable you become,” the word “closer”
probably refers to physical distance but “unreachable” refers to the
difficulty of telling how the speaker feels about the person who is referred
to to that person.
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2011-06-01T05:41:12.130
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answer