Es difícil concentrarse cuando hace tanto ruido.

It is difficult to concentrate when it is so noisy.

Breakdown of Es difícil concentrarse cuando hace tanto ruido.

• ser: to be
• hacer: to make
• cuando: when
• difícil: difficult
• concentrarse: to concentrate
• el ruido: the noise

Questions & Answers about Es difícil concentrarse cuando hace tanto ruido.

Why is concentrarse in the reflexive form?

In Spanish, concentrarse is used in the reflexive form because it refers to focusing one’s own mind. The action is directed back to the subject—each person concentrates themselves, so it needs the reflexive se.

Why do we say hace tanto ruido instead of using a verb like hay?

In Spanish, hacer ruido literally means to make noise. When people or things generate a lot of noise, Spanish commonly uses the expression hace tanto ruido (“it makes so much noise”). It’s an idiomatic way to say it’s very noisy, while hay tanto ruido (“there is so much noise”) sounds more factual about the presence of noise rather than its creation.

Could I say es difícil de concentrarse?

Generally, in Spanish, constructions like es difícil de + infinitive are less common and can sound unnatural in everyday speech. The most standard phrasing is es difícil concentrarse, which smoothly pairs es + adjetivo + infinitivo. So, es difícil concentrarse is the correct and natural-sounding construction.

Why not just say es difícil concentrar?

In Spanish, when talking about focusing one’s own attention, the verb is normally used with se—concentrarse—because it indicates that the subject is performing and receiving the action. Concentrar without se would typically mean to consolidate or gather something else (e.g., concentrar fuerzas = to gather forces), which isn’t the intended meaning here.

Is there a difference between tanto ruido and tanto used alone?

Yes. Tanto as an adjective modifies a noun—in this case, ruido—so tanto ruido means so much noise. If you used tanto on its own, you’d need a clear reference to what is being described. For example, tanto could be a pronoun meaning so much of something understood from context, but here we explicitly refer to ruido (noise), so we say tanto ruido.

Why is it hace tanto ruido and not está haciendo tanto ruido?

Both can be correct but convey slightly different nuances. Hace tanto ruido is a standard, set expression describing the amount of noise in general (often impersonal). Está haciendo tanto ruido is more specific and emphasizes that the noise-making is happening right now, often pointing at a specific source or moment. Both are acceptable, but hace tanto ruido is more common as a general statement.