Es imposible terminar hoy.

Because Spanish often uses the pattern es + adjective + infinitive to make general statements like:

• Es fácil aprender.
• Es difícil llegar a tiempo.
• Es imposible terminar hoy.

In English, we usually say It is impossible to finish today, with a dummy subject it. Spanish does not need that kind of subject here, so it simply starts with es.

Here, ser is used because the sentence is making a general statement about possibility: finishing today is impossible.

With ser, Spanish often expresses definitions, general characteristics, or impersonal judgments:

• Es importante estudiar.
• Es normal estar cansado.
• Es imposible terminar hoy.

You may sometimes hear está imposible in everyday speech, especially in Spain and Latin America, but that usually sounds more colloquial and refers to a situation being impossible right now or in practice, for example:

• El tráfico está imposible. = The traffic is impossible / awful.

For this sentence, es imposible is the standard and neutral structure.

Because Spanish does not need a dummy subject like English it in this kind of sentence.

English says:

• It is impossible to finish today.

But in Spanish, the idea to finish today is already enough, so the language uses an impersonal structure:

• Es imposible terminar hoy.

So the sentence is not missing anything. It is complete and natural.

Because after es imposible, Spanish commonly uses an infinitive to say what is impossible:

• Es imposible saberlo.
• Es imposible llegar antes.
• Es imposible terminar hoy.

The infinitive works a lot like English to finish in it is impossible to finish today.

So terminar is not conjugated because it is not the main verb of the sentence. The main verb is es. The infinitive explains what is impossible.

Yes. That is often more natural if you want to mention the thing being finished.

• Es imposible terminar hoy. = It’s impossible to finish today.
• Es imposible terminarlo hoy. = It’s impossible to finish it today.

The original sentence leaves the object unstated, which is very common when the context already makes it clear what needs to be finished.

Here, terminar means to finish or to complete.

It can be used in different ways:

• Terminar el trabajo = to finish the work
• Terminar un libro = to finish a book
• Terminar hoy = to finish today / to be done today

Spanish also has acabar, which can sometimes mean something similar. In many situations, both work:

• Es imposible terminar hoy.
• Es imposible acabar hoy.

But terminar often feels slightly more like finish/complete, while acabar can also mean end or be over, depending on context.

Because imposible is agreeing with the whole idea expressed by the infinitive phrase terminar hoy, which is treated as a singular idea.

So Spanish uses singular:

• Es imposible terminar hoy.

Compare:

• Es difícil estudiar por la noche.
• Es necesario salir temprano.

If you were describing plural nouns directly, then the adjective would change:

• Estas tareas son imposibles. = These tasks are impossible.

But in Es imposible terminar hoy, the adjective is part of an impersonal structure, so singular imposible is correct.

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible, although some versions sound more natural than others.

The most neutral version is:

• Es imposible terminar hoy.

You could also hear:

• Hoy es imposible terminar.
• Es imposible hoy terminar. (less natural in everyday speech)

Putting hoy first can add emphasis, as in today, it’s impossible to finish.

So the original order is the safest and most natural one for a learner.

In standard Spanish from Spain, hoy is pronounced approximately like oy in English boy, but shorter and cleaner.

A few points:

• The h is silent.
• The o is a pure Spanish vowel.
• The y here sounds like the y glide in a diphthong, similar to the end of English boy.

So:

• hoy ≈ oy

Not hoy with an English h sound.

It is neutral and works in both formal and informal situations.

You could use it in everyday conversation:

• No llegamos. Es imposible terminar hoy.

Or in a more formal context:

• Con los recursos actuales, es imposible terminar hoy.

Nothing in the sentence is slangy or especially formal.

Yes. That means almost the same thing.

• Es imposible terminar hoy.
• No es posible terminar hoy.

The first usually sounds a bit stronger:

• imposible = impossible
• no es posible = not possible

In many real situations, though, they are interchangeable.

Usually, for this meaning, Es imposible terminar hoy is the better and more natural choice.

Spanish most commonly uses:

• es + adjective + infinitive

So:

• Es imposible terminar hoy.

You may sometimes see de + infinitive in other structures, especially when referring to a noun:

• Es un libro difícil de leer.
• Es una tarea imposible de terminar hoy.

That works better when an actual noun is being described, like libro or tarea. On its own, Es imposible de terminar hoy is less natural than Es imposible terminar hoy.

From a learner’s point of view, the easiest explanation is that the infinitive phrase terminar hoy expresses the idea being judged, and es imposible comments on that idea.

So conceptually:

• terminar hoy = the action/idea
• es imposible = says that this action is impossible

English uses it as a placeholder subject, but Spanish does not. So even though the sentence begins with es, the meaning is really closer to:

• Finishing today is impossible.

Yes. Spanish often leaves the person unspecified when it is obvious from context or when the statement is general.

So Es imposible terminar hoy could mean:

• It is impossible to finish today.
• It is impossible for us to finish today.
• It is impossible for them to finish today.

If you want to specify the person, you can:

• Nos es imposible terminar hoy. = It is impossible for us to finish today.
• Les es imposible terminar hoy. = It is impossible for them to finish today.

But in many cases, the simple version is enough.