A veces es difícil equilibrar el tiempo libre con las responsabilidades de la familia.

Sometimes it is difficult to balance free time with family responsibilities.

Breakdown of A veces es difícil equilibrar el tiempo libre con las responsabilidades de la familia.

• la familia: the family
• ser: to be
• con: with
• a veces: sometimes

Questions & Answers about A veces es difícil equilibrar el tiempo libre con las responsabilidades de la familia.

Why does the sentence start with A veces? Could it go somewhere else?

A veces (sometimes) is a time expression, and putting it at the very beginning is a common, neutral word order in Spanish.

You can also say:

• Es difícil a veces equilibrar el tiempo libre…
• Es difícil equilibrar el tiempo libre… a veces.

All are correct; moving a veces just changes the rhythm or emphasis slightly, not the basic meaning. Beginning with A veces sounds very natural and is probably the most typical choice.

Why is it es difícil and not está difícil?

With adjectives like difícil, Spanish usually uses ser (es difícil) when talking about a general characteristic of an action or situation, not a temporary state.

• Es difícil equilibrar… = In general, this is a difficult thing to do.
• Está difícil is used much less and usually with more concrete, situational things (e.g. La situación está difícil = the situation is tough right now).

So here, we’re making a general statement, so es difícil is the natural choice.

Why is equilibrar in the infinitive? Could it be conjugated like equilibro?