Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): En conclusión, no importa cuántas veces reprobemos; lo importante es ponernos a aprender de cada error y cuidar nuestra autoestima. - In conclusion, it doesn’t matter how many times we fail; the important thing is to start learning from each mistake and take care of our self-esteem.

The structure is basically: (A X) no le importa [a alguien] = “X doesn’t matter (to someone).”
In this sentence, the “thing” that doesn’t matter is the whole clause cuántas veces reprobemos (“how many times we fail”), but Spanish keeps importa in the singular, just like English keeps “matter” in the singular in “How many times we fail doesn’t matter.”

So no importa = “it doesn’t matter,” regardless of how many “times” are involved.

Why is it reprobemos (subjunctive) and not reprobamos?

Because no importa cuántas veces… introduces something that is:

indefinite / not specific, and
seen as possibility or hypothesis, not a known event.

In Spanish, after expressions like:

no importa cuántas…
da igual cómo…
no importa quién…

you normally use the present subjunctive when you mean “no matter how many / how / who / where, etc.”

So:

No importa cuántas veces reprobemos
≈ “It doesn’t matter how many times we (might) fail.”

Using reprobamos (indicative) would sound wrong here; it would lose that “no matter how many times (it happens)” idea.

What exactly does reprobar mean here? Is it different from fallar or fracasar?

In Latin American Spanish, reprobar is very commonly used in school or exam contexts:

reprobar un examen = to fail an exam
reprobar una materia / un curso = to fail a subject / a course

In this sentence, reprobemos suggests failing classes, tests, or “flunking” something academic.

Other verbs:

fallar = to fail (more general: to make a mistake, not succeed at something, a machine failing, etc.)
fracasar = to fail / to be unsuccessful (often bigger things: a project, a business, life goals)

You could say cuántas veces fallemos or cuántas veces fracasemos, but they feel more like “how many times we mess up / are unsuccessful” in general. Reprobar keeps it strongly in a school/exam context.

Why is there a semicolon (;) between the two parts instead of a comma or a period?

The semicolon in:

…no importa cuántas veces reprobemos; lo importante es…

links two closely related but independent ideas:

“It doesn’t matter how many times we fail”
“What matters is that we start learning from each mistake and take care of our self-esteem.”

In Spanish, you could also write:

…no importa cuántas veces reprobemos, lo importante es… (comma)
…no importa cuántas veces reprobemos. Lo importante es… (period)
…no importa cuántas veces reprobemos, porque lo importante es… (“because”)

The semicolon is a stylistic choice to show a strong logical connection without using a conjunction like pero or porque. It’s similar to English usage.

What is the structure lo importante es + infinitive? Why use lo here?

Lo importante is a very common pattern: lo + adjective (masculine singular) to talk about “the … thing,” “what is …,” “the … part” in an abstract way.

lo importante = “the important thing” / “what’s important”
lo bueno = the good thing
lo malo = the bad thing
lo interesante = the interesting thing

So:

Lo importante es ponernos a aprender de cada error y cuidar nuestra autoestima.
= “The important thing is to start learning from each mistake and to take care of our self‑esteem.”

After lo importante es, you can put:

an infinitive: lo importante es aprender
a noun: lo importante es la actitud
a clause: lo importante es que sigamos adelante.

Why is it ponernos a aprender and not just aprender?

The verb ponerse a + infinitive means “to start doing something,” “to get down to doing something.”

ponerse a estudiar = to start studying
ponerse a trabajar = to start working

So:

ponernos a aprender = “to start learning” / “to get ourselves to learn”

If you said just aprender de cada error, it would mean “learn from each mistake” in general. Ponernos a aprender adds the idea of taking action / making the effort to begin learning.

It’s both:

ponernos = put ourselves / get ourselves
a aprender = to learning → “to get ourselves to learn.”

Why is the pronoun attached at the end (ponernos) instead of nos ponemos a aprender?

Spanish allows two positions for object/reflexive pronouns:

Before a conjugated verb:
- Nos ponemos a aprender.
Attached to an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative command:
- Ponernos a aprender.

In this sentence, lo importante es + infinitive is used:

Lo importante es ponernos a aprender…

That structure requires the infinitive (poner) after es, so the reflexive pronoun nos attaches to the infinitive:

pon-er + nos → ponernos

You could rephrase the whole thing as:

Lo importante es que nos pongamos a aprender…

But that’s a different structure (with que + subjunctive).

What does de cada error add? Could you just say de los errores?

Both are correct, but the nuance is a bit different:

de cada error = “from each mistake”
→ emphasizes every individual error, one by one.
de los errores = “from the mistakes” (more general, as a group).

De cada error sounds more personal and detailed: “from every single mistake we make, we learn something.” It highlights repetition and consistency in the learning process.

In cuidar nuestra autoestima, why is cuidar used directly, without de (like cuidar de)?

Cuidar can work in two main patterns:

cuidar + direct object
- cuidar a los niños = to take care of the children
- cuidar la salud = to take care of your health
- cuidar nuestra autoestima = to take care of our self‑esteem
cuidar de + noun/pronoun (more common in some regions and a bit more formal/old‑fashioned in others):
- cuidar de los niños
- cuidar de sí mismo

In most everyday Latin American usage, cuidar + direct object is very natural and common:

cuidar nuestra autoestima
= “to take care of our self‑esteem” / “to protect our self‑esteem”

Why nuestra autoestima and not nuestro autoestima? What gender is autoestima?

Autoestima is a feminine noun in Spanish:

la autoestima = self‑esteem

So the possessive adjective must match in gender and number:

mi autoestima
tu autoestima
su autoestima
nuestra autoestima (feminine singular)

If you said nuestro autoestima, it would be grammatically wrong because nuestro is masculine, and it doesn’t agree with autoestima (feminine).

Could we change the word order in the second part? For example, Lo importante es cuidar nuestra autoestima y ponernos a aprender de cada error?

Yes, that reordering is completely fine:

Lo importante es cuidar nuestra autoestima y ponernos a aprender de cada error.

Spanish word order here is flexible. Both:

ponernos a aprender de cada error y cuidar nuestra autoestima
cuidar nuestra autoestima y ponernos a aprender de cada error

are grammatically correct. The original order slightly emphasizes learning from errors first, then caring for self‑esteem, but the difference in meaning is minimal; it’s mostly stylistic.

Does no importa cuántas veces reprobemos talk about the future, the present, or both?

The present subjunctive (reprobemos) here is not strictly about the present time. In this construction, it covers:

present
future
any repeated or hypothetical situation

It’s like saying:

“It doesn’t matter how many times we fail / might fail / end up failing.”

Spanish often uses present subjunctive for future‑like or general hypothetical situations after phrases such as cuando, aunque, no importa cómo/cuántas veces, etc.

So reprobemos is timeless / general, not limited to “right now.”

Could we say En conclusión, no importa cuántas veces fallamos instead of reprobemos?

You could say something like:

En conclusión, no importa cuántas veces fallemos…

But:

You should still keep the subjunctive (fallemos, not fallamos), because of the no importa cuántas veces… structure.
fallemos is more general (“how many times we fail / mess up”) and doesn’t specifically suggest failing a class or exam.

So:

reprobemos → specifically sounds like failing courses/exams (very school‑related).
fallemos → failing in some broader sense (mistakes, errors, not achieving things).

The original sentence sounds like it’s talking about exams or academic failure; switching to fallemos makes it more general.