No es fácil reservar un asiento especial en el avión cuando hay mucha gente.

It is not easy to reserve a special seat on the plane when there are many people.

Breakdown of No es fácil reservar un asiento especial en el avión cuando hay mucha gente.

• ser: to be
• en: on
• cuando: when
• el avión: the plane
• reservar: to reserve
• especial: special
• fácil: easy
• el asiento: the seat
• mucho: a lot of
• la gente: the people

Questions & Answers about No es fácil reservar un asiento especial en el avión cuando hay mucha gente.

Why do we use No es fácil instead of No está fácil?

In Spanish, the phrase es fácil is typically used to describe something that is inherently or generally easy or difficult. On the other hand, está fácil would suggest a state or condition that is subject to change, which is less common for a general statement like this. Hence, No es fácil fits best here.

Why is the verb reservar followed by un asiento especial and not placed the other way around?

Spanish usually follows a noun–adjective order; the adjective especial comes after the noun asiento. If you said un especial asiento, it would sound awkward or overly poetic. The norm is to say reservar un asiento especial.

Why is hay mucha gente used instead of something like hay muchas personas?

In Spanish, gente (meaning people as a collective group) is more commonly used when referring to a crowd or a large group in a general sense. It is also treated as a singular noun despite representing multiple individuals. Muchas personas is correct too, but in everyday speech, mucha gente sounds more natural.

How can I tell when to use the word cuando in sentences like this?

The word cuando is used to express the concept of when in Spanish. Here, it’s introducing a time condition (i.e., “when there is a lot of people, it’s not easy to reserve a special seat”). You can also use cuando in a wide variety of other time clauses referring to past, present, or future. The choice of indicative or subjunctive in such clauses depends on whether the event is habitual, completed, or anticipated.

Is gente singular or plural in Spanish?

Although gente refers to a group of people, it’s considered a singular collective noun in Spanish. So you would treat it like a single entity when conjugating verbs, e.g., hay mucha gente (literally “there is a lot of people”), not hay muchas gentes.