La exigencia reduce la productividad.

Because exigencia is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the feminine singular definite article la.

• la exigencia = the demand / the strictness / the pressure
• If the noun were masculine, you would use el instead.

Spanish uses articles more often than English, so la exigencia sounds natural where English might sometimes just say demand or pressure in a general sense.

Exigencia can mean several related things depending on context:

• demand
• strictness
• high expectations
• pressure caused by demanding standards
• sometimes requirement

In this sentence, it usually suggests something like demanding pressure or strict expectations. It often comes from the adjective exigente meaning demanding.

So the idea is that being too demanding, or having too much pressure, reduces productivity.

Yes. Exigencia comes from exigir, which means to demand or to require.

A useful word family is:

• exigir = to demand
• exigente = demanding
• exigencia = demand, strictness, demandingness

This is a very common pattern in Spanish: a noun is formed from a verb and expresses the idea or quality connected to that action.

Because reduce is the conjugated form, while reducir is the infinitive.

Here, the subject is la exigencia, which is third person singular, so the verb must also be third person singular:

• reducir = to reduce
• reduce = it reduces

So:

• La exigencia reduce la productividad = Demand/strictness reduces productivity

The subject is la exigencia because it is the thing doing the action of the verb reduce.

A simple way to see it:

• La exigencia = subject
• reduce = verb
• la productividad = direct object

So the structure is:

• The demand/strictness
  • reduces
    • productivity

This is a very standard Spanish word order: subject + verb + object.

Because productividad is also a feminine singular noun, and here Spanish naturally uses the definite article.

• la productividad = productivity

In English, we often leave out the with abstract nouns, but Spanish often keeps the article:

• la productividad
• la educación
• la eficiencia

So even if English says just productivity, Spanish may still say la productividad.

Not exactly. In Spanish (Spain), reduce is pronounced approximately reh-DOO-theh in much of Spain, or reh-DOO-seh in areas that do not distinguish c/z and s.

A few pronunciation points:

• re- is a clear Spanish reh
• du sounds like doo
• ce in most of Spain sounds like theh with a soft th sound
• the stress is on du: re-DU-ce

Also, the r is a light tap, not the English r.

Because Spanish pronunciation follows different rules.

In most of Spain:

• ce and ci are pronounced with a th sound
• so reduce sounds like re-DU-the

In many parts of Latin America and some parts of Spain, ce and ci are pronounced like s:

• re-DU-se

Both are valid Spanish pronunciations depending on the region. Since you asked about Spain, the most typical Spain pronunciation is with the th sound.

Normally, no. That sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard Spanish.

Spanish usually wants the articles here:

• La exigencia reduce la productividad.

Without them, the sentence sounds more like a headline, a note, or very compressed style. In ordinary speech and writing, keep both la words.

Not always. It can be neutral or even positive depending on context.

For example:

• La exigencia del curso es alta. = The course is demanding.
• La exigencia mejora los resultados. = Demanding standards improve results.

But in your sentence, it is clearly presented as having a negative effect because it reduces productivity.

So the word itself is not automatically negative; the rest of the sentence gives it that negative value here.

Sometimes, but not always. They are related, not identical.

• demanda often means demand in the sense of need, request, or market demand
• exigencia often means strictness, demanding pressure, or a requirement

Compare:

• La demanda reduce la productividad would usually sound less natural unless you mean some specific kind of demand or pressure.
• La exigencia reduce la productividad suggests that excessive strictness or pressure is lowering productivity.

So exigencia is a better choice if the idea is being too demanding.

You would make the nouns and verb plural if the meaning changes to plural:

• Las exigencias reducen la productividad.
• The demands / strict expectations reduce productivity.

Changes:

• la → las
• exigencia → exigencias
• reduce → reducen

But la productividad usually stays singular because productivity is still one abstract concept.

Yes. It is a very common and useful pattern:

• [noun] + [third-person singular verb] + [noun]

For example:

• La presión reduce la creatividad.
• La falta de sueño reduce la concentración.
• La motivación aumenta la productividad.

This makes the sentence a good model for building similar statements about cause and effect in Spanish.