Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi hermano se queja cuando hay demasiada tarea, pero luego estudia igual. - My brother complains when there is too much homework, but then he studies anyway.

Without se, quejar on its own is not used in the same way in modern Spanish. So se is required as part of the verb, not as a separate meaning like “himself.”

What exactly is the se in se queja doing? Is it like “himself”?

Here se is a reflexive pronoun, but in verbs like quejarse it doesn’t literally mean “himself.”
Some verbs in Spanish are just pronominal, meaning they are normally used with me, te, se, nos, os, se:

me quejo – I complain
te quejas – you complain
se queja – he/she complains

You can think of quejarse as a single item in your vocabulary: “to complain.” The se is part of the verb form.

Why is hay used here instead of es or tiene?

Hay is the impersonal form of haber used to mean “there is / there are.”

hay demasiada tarea = there is too much homework

You wouldn’t say es demasiada tarea or tiene demasiada tarea in this structure.
If you wanted to say “My brother has too much homework,” you’d say:

Mi hermano tiene demasiada tarea.

Why is it demasiada tarea and not demasiado tarea?

Demasiada agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

tarea is feminine singular → la tarea
So you need demasiada tarea = too much homework

Examples of agreement:

demasiado trabajo (masculine) – too much work
demasiadas tareas (feminine plural) – too many tasks / assignments

Why is tarea singular if the English idea is “too much homework / too many assignments”?

In Spanish, la tarea can be an uncountable noun meaning homework (like “homework” in English), so singular is natural:

Hay mucha tarea. – There’s a lot of homework.
Hay demasiada tarea. – There’s too much homework.

In Spain, you’ll also very often hear los deberes for homework:

Hay demasiados deberes. – There’s too much homework / too many homework assignments.

Both tarea and deberes are correct, but deberes is especially common in Spain for school homework.

Why is there no article before demasiada tarea (no la or una)?

With quantifiers like mucha, poca, demasiada, you normally don’t use an article with uncountable nouns:

demasiada tarea – too much homework
mucha agua – a lot of water
poca paciencia – little patience

You would typically add an article if you are specifying something more concrete, like:

Toda la tarea de matemáticas – all the math homework

Why is there no él before estudia? Shouldn’t it be él estudia?

Subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are usually dropped in Spanish because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is:

estudia can only be he / she / it studies or you (formal) study.

Here, the subject is still mi hermano, carried over from the start of the sentence:

Mi hermano se queja…, pero luego estudia igual.
= My brother complains…, but then he still studies.

Adding él (…pero luego él estudia igual) is possible, but it usually sounds unnecessary unless you want to emphasize he.

What does igual mean at the end of pero luego estudia igual?

In this context, igual is a very common colloquial expression in Spain meaning something like:

“anyway”
“all the same”
“still”

So pero luego estudia igual ≈ “but then he still studies anyway.”

Don’t confuse this with other uses of igual, like:

igual que tú – the same as you
Son igual de altos. – They’re equally tall.

Could the sentence also be Mi hermano se queja, pero luego igual estudia? Does the position of igual matter?

Yes, Mi hermano se queja, pero luego igual estudia is possible and understandable in Spain.

However, the most natural and common position in this sentence is at the end:

…pero luego estudia igual.

Putting igual before the verb sounds a bit more colloquial and might be slightly more common in some regions or in spoken language, but the meaning “anyway / still” stays the same.

Why is cuando followed by the present tense hay and not haya?

Here, cuando hay demasiada tarea describes a habitual situation (something that happens repeatedly in general), not a future or hypothetical event.

For general, repeated facts, Spanish uses the present indicative after cuando:

Cuando hay demasiada tarea, se queja. – When there is too much homework, he complains.

You normally use the subjunctive (e.g. haya) with cuando when you’re talking about a future, uncertain, or not-yet-real event:

Cuando haya demasiada tarea, se quejará. – When there is too much homework (when that happens), he will complain.

What exactly does igual add that pero luego estudia alone wouldn’t say?

Pero luego estudia just means “but then he studies.”
Adding igual adds the nuance “despite that / in spite of complaining.”

So:

pero luego estudia – but then he studies
pero luego estudia igual – but then he still studies anyway / he ends up studying all the same

It highlights the contrast between his complaining and the fact that he does the work anyway.

Is this sentence talking about a single situation or something habitual?

With the present tense in Spanish (se queja, hay, estudia), this normally describes a habitual action:

Mi hermano se queja cuando hay demasiada tarea, pero luego estudia igual.
= My brother complains when there’s too much homework, but he still studies anyway (whenever that happens).

It’s like saying in English: “My brother tends to complain when there’s too much homework, but he still studies anyway.”