Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): El calor extremo exige beber más agua cada día. - Extreme heat requires drinking more water every day.

• Exigir means “to demand” or “to require,” conveying that extreme heat forces a certain action.
• Necesitar means “to need” and is usually used for people or things that have needs. Saying El calor extremo necesita… sounds odd because heat doesn’t “have needs” in the same way a person does.
• You could say El calor extremo requiere beber más agua, but exige adds a stronger sense of urgency.

How does the construction exigir + infinitive work? Do I need a preposition?

• With an infinitive, exigir takes the verb directly: exige beber. No preposition is used.
• If you use a subordinate clause, you switch to exigir que + subjunctive:
– El calor extremo exige que bebamos más agua.
• By contrast, obligar requires a + infinitive: obliga a beber más agua.

Why is it beber más agua and not beber más de agua?

• Más de is used when you specify a quantity or number:
– más de diez vasos
• When you’re just saying “more water” in general (an uncountable noun), you drop de:
– beber más agua is correct.
• You would only say más de agua if followed immediately by a specific amount or comparison.

Can I say al día instead of cada día? What’s the difference?

• Cada día = “each day,” a very common way to say “every day.”
• Al día is used after a numeral to mean “per day”:
– Bebe 2 litros al día.
• Without a number, al día sounds incomplete. For formal writing you can also use diariamente.

Why isn’t there an article before agua? When would you use el agua?

• Here agua is uncountable and general, so no article: beber más agua = “drink more water.”
• Use el agua when you mean “the water” (specific water):
– El agua está fría.
• Note that agua is feminine, but in the singular it takes el instead of la to avoid the double a-sound. Adjectives still agree in the feminine: el agua fría.

Why does extremo come after calor? Could I say extremo calor?

• In Spanish most adjectives follow the noun: calor extremo (“extreme heat”).
• Extremo calor is grammatically possible but more literary or poetic. The normal, everyday order is noun + adjective.

Can I use tomar instead of beber?

• Yes. Tomar agua is very common in Latin America and means the same as beber agua.
• Beber is slightly more formal or literal (“to drink”). Tomar is more idiomatic in casual speech:
– Debes tomar/beber más agua cada día.

Could I replace exigir with obligar a? What’s the nuance?

• Exigir = to demand or require (often abstract or formal).
• Obligar a = to force someone to do something.
• Grammar difference:
– El calor extremo exige beber… (no preposition)
– El calor extremo obliga a beber… (needs a + infinitive)
• Exigir focuses on necessity; obligar emphasizes compulsion.

Why “calor extremo” instead of “mucho calor”? Are they the same?

• Mucho calor = “a lot of heat” or “very hot.” It’s common in weather reports: Hace mucho calor.
• Calor extremo = “extreme heat,” implies a more severe, possibly dangerous condition.
• Use “extremo” when you want to warn about unusually high temperatures.