[Grammar] The better able ..., the more ...

[yogaakbare]

I found a sentence in my TOEFL Reading practice book as below :
"The better able the person is to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful."


I think it’s the same meaning if I wrote as below:
“The better the person is able to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.” or
“The better the person can reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.”


But I am confused why the “able” can be moved and put after “better”.
Could you kindly explained it?
If in case I use “can”, is it correct if I wrote as below:
“The better can the person reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.”

Best regards,

 

[emsr2d2]

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

You can't replace "The better able ..." with "The better can ...". "Able" is an adjective. "Can" is a verb.

 

[teechar]

I found the following sentence in my TOEFL Reading practice book: [STRIKE]as below :[/STRIKE]
"The better able the person is to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful."

I think it’s the same meaning [STRIKE]if I wrote[/STRIKE] as: [STRIKE]below:[/STRIKE]
“The better the person is able to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.” or
“The better the person can reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.”

Yes. That's the meaning.

But I don't understand [STRIKE]am confused[/STRIKE] why the “able” can be moved and put after “better”.
Could you kindly explain [STRIKE]ed[/STRIKE] it?

It can be moved. Remember that "better" modifies "able", not person, so there is no problem in saying "better able".

If in case I use “can”, is it correct if I wrote it as follows? [STRIKE]below:[/STRIKE]
“The better can the person reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.”

No. That doesn't work.