La mejora exige tiempo.

Because mejora is being used as a noun: improvement. In Spanish, general or abstract nouns often take the definite article.

So La mejora exige tiempo literally looks like:

• La mejora = the improvement / improvement
• exige = requires
• tiempo = time

Even though English often says just improvement with no article, Spanish commonly uses la in this kind of general statement.

Here, mejora is a noun meaning improvement.

It comes from the verb mejorar, which means to improve or to get better.

So compare:

• La mejora exige tiempo. = Improvement requires time.
• Mejorar exige tiempo. = Improving takes time.

Both are possible, but the original sentence uses the noun form.

Yes, mejora is feminine, which is why it uses la.

A common clue is the ending -a, although that is not always a rule. In this case:

• la mejora

If you make it plural, you would get:

• las mejoras = the improvements

Because exige is a conjugated verb, while exigir is the infinitive.

The subject is La mejora, which is third-person singular, so the verb must match it:

• La mejora exige = Improvement requires

The infinitive exigir would be used in a different structure, such as:

• Exigir paciencia es importante. = To demand patience is important.

Exige is in the present indicative.

It comes from exigir and means:

• he/she/it requires
• you (formal) require

In this sentence, it means it requires, because the subject is La mejora.

Spanish often uses the present tense for general truths or broad statements, just like English does:

• Practice helps
• Improvement requires time

They are similar, but not identical.

• exige = demands / requires
• requiere = requires
• necesita = needs

Exige can sound a little stronger than requiere. It suggests that something is truly necessary, almost as a condition.

So:

• La mejora exige tiempo feels a bit like Improvement demands time
• La mejora requiere tiempo is also very natural and slightly more neutral
• La mejora necesita tiempo is understandable, but a bit less elegant in this abstract statement

Because in Spanish, after verbs like exigir, necesitar, or requerir, an abstract noun often appears without an article when speaking generally.

So:

• exige tiempo = requires time
• necesita paciencia = needs patience
• requiere esfuerzo = requires effort

If you add an article, the meaning becomes more specific:

• exige tiempo = it requires time in general
• exige el tiempo necesario = it requires the necessary time
• exige mucho tiempo = it requires a lot of time

Yes. That is a very natural alternative.

Compare:

• La mejora exige tiempo. = Improvement requires time.
• Mejorar exige tiempo. = Improving takes time.

The first uses a noun (mejora), and the second uses an infinitive verb (mejorar). Both are correct, but they frame the idea a little differently.

La mejora sounds slightly more abstract or formal. Mejorar sounds a bit more action-focused.

You could, but it is usually less common and often sounds heavier or more formal than la mejora.

• la mejora = more common, natural, and concise
• el mejoramiento = possible, but more technical or formal in some contexts

In everyday Spanish, la mejora is usually the better choice here.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural.

Standard order:

• La mejora exige tiempo.

You might also see:

• Tiempo exige la mejora.

But that sounds marked or poetic, not like normal everyday phrasing.

Spanish allows more flexibility than English, but for a simple statement like this, subject + verb + object is the best default.

A good approximation is:

• ehk-SEE-heh

More precisely:

• exi- has stress on -xi-
• the g before e sounds like a strong h sound in most Latin American accents

So exige sounds roughly like:

• eksíhe or ehk-SI-he

Also note:

• j and g before e/i usually sound the same in Spanish

So exige and a hypothetical spelling exije would sound the same, but the correct spelling is exige.

Yes, it has a spelling change in some forms to keep the pronunciation consistent.

You can see:

• exijo
• exiges
• exige
• exigimos
• exigen

And in some subjunctive forms:

• exija
• exijan

The g changes to j before a or o in forms like exijo and exija so that the sound stays like the h-like sound of g before e/i.

But in exige, no spelling change is needed, because g before e already has that sound.

It sounds neutral and slightly polished. It would fit well in:

• advice
• self-improvement contexts
• education
• business or professional writing
• motivational language

It is not overly literary, but it is more polished than something like:

• Mejorar toma tiempo.

That version is also natural in much of Latin America, but La mejora exige tiempo sounds a bit more formal and thoughtful.