Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.

My anxiety is greater when there is noise in the city.

Breakdown of Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.

• ser: to be
• en: in
• mi: my
• cuando: when
• la ciudad: the city
• el ruido: the noise
• haber: there is/are
• la ansiedad: the anxiety
• mayor: higher

Questions & Answers about Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.

Why does the sentence say Mi ansiedad es mayor instead of something like Tengo más ansiedad?

Both are understandable, but they’re not used in exactly the same way.

• Mi ansiedad es mayor literally means “My anxiety is greater.”

  • It treats ansiedad as a state or condition you have, and you’re describing its intensity.
  • This sounds natural and slightly more formal/neutral.

• Tengo más ansiedad literally “I have more anxiety”:

  • Grammatically fine, but it’s more often used when directly comparing two moments:
    
    • Tengo más ansiedad ahora que antes. – “I have more anxiety now than before.”
  • On its own, it sounds a bit less idiomatic than Mi ansiedad es mayor in this context.

So Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando… is a very standard way to talk about an increase in the degree of your anxiety in a certain situation.

What exactly does mayor mean here, and why not just use más?

In this sentence, mayor means “greater” (more intense/stronger), not “older.”

• mayor is the comparative form of grande and can mean:
  
  • “bigger” / “greater” for things like quantity, size, importance, intensity:
    
    • un problema mayor – a bigger/more serious problem
    • mayor ansiedad – greater anxiety
• You could say Mi ansiedad es más grande, but:
  • For abstract nouns like ansiedad, mayor sounds more natural and elegant than más grande.

So Mi ansiedad es mayor = “My anxiety is greater”, and mayor is the preferred comparative in this abstract context.

Does mayor agree in gender and number with ansiedad? Should it be mayora?

No, mayor is invariable in gender; it does not change to mayora.

• Singular:
  
  • ansiedad mayor (feminine)
  • problema mayor (masculine)
• Plural:
  
  • ansiedades mayores
  • problemas mayores

So:

• Mi ansiedad es mayor (correct)
• Mi ansiedad es mayora (incorrect)

Why is it hay ruido and not es ruido or está ruido?

Hay is the impersonal form of haber used to express existence or presence: “there is / there are.”

• hay ruido = “there is noise”
• We use hay
  • noun when saying that something exists/is present in a place or situation.

es ruido or está ruido are not used to mean “there is noise”:

• es ruido would only appear in something like Eso es ruido, no música. – “That is noise, not music.”
• está ruidoso uses an adjective:
  
  • La ciudad está ruidosa. – “The city is noisy.”

So to say “when there is noise in the city”, the natural structure is cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.

Could you also say cuando la ciudad está ruidosa instead of cuando hay ruido en la ciudad? Is there a difference?

You can say both, but the nuance changes slightly:

• cuando hay ruido en la ciudad – focuses on the existence/presence of noise.
  
  • More neutral and more common.
• cuando la ciudad está ruidosa – focuses on the state/quality of the city (“the city is in a noisy state”).
  
  • Sounds a bit more descriptive or literary.

For everyday speech, cuando hay ruido en la ciudad is more typical and general.

Why is it en la ciudad and not just en ciudad?

In Spanish, we normally use a definite article (el/la/los/las) with nouns like ciudad when we’re referring to them in a generic or known sense.

• en la ciudad – “in the city” (meaning the city environment, city area in general)
• en ciudad is not natural Spanish in this context.

If you wanted to be more specific, you could name the city:

• en Madrid / en Valencia – without article, because it’s a proper name.

But with the common noun ciudad, you use the article: la ciudad.

Why is ansiedad feminine (mi ansiedad es mayor)?

In Spanish, every noun has a grammatical gender that you just have to learn with the word. Ansiedad is a feminine noun:

• la ansiedad
• mi ansiedad
• mucha ansiedad

It ends in -dad, and most nouns ending in -dad (like ciudad, libertad, verdad) are feminine. That’s why you say la ansiedad and use feminine determiners/adjectives with it.

Why is the verb ser used (es mayor) and not estar (está mayor)?

Here you’re describing a general characteristic/degree of your anxiety in a certain condition, not a temporary, changing state that you’re emphasizing as such.

• es mayor
  • comparative adjective (mayor) is the standard structure to compare degrees or levels of something:
    • Mi miedo es mayor que el tuyo.
    • El problema es mayor ahora.

Estar mayor exists, but it has a different meaning: usually “to be old / look older” (for people), not “to be greater (in amount).”

So:

• Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad. – correct and idiomatic
• Mi ansiedad está mayor… – not natural for this meaning.

Could I move the words around and say Es mayor mi ansiedad cuando hay ruido en la ciudad?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct, but it changes the emphasis and sounds more formal or literary.

• Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.
  
  • Most neutral, standard word order.
• Es mayor mi ansiedad cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.
  
  • Puts more emphasis on es mayor and then identifies what is greater (mi ansiedad).
  • Feels stylistic, like written or rhetorical Spanish.

In everyday speech, you would normally stick with Mi ansiedad es mayor….

Could I say Mi ansiedad aumenta cuando hay ruido en la ciudad instead? Is it the same?

Yes, that’s a very natural alternative with almost the same meaning:

• Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.
  
  • Stresses a comparison of degree: the level is higher in that situation.
• Mi ansiedad aumenta cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.
  
  • Stresses the process of increasing: it goes up when there’s noise.

Both are correct; the original sentence focuses more on the resulting level being greater.

Why is it cuando hay ruido and not the subjunctive cuando haya ruido?

The choice between hay (indicative) and haya (subjunctive) depends on what you’re expressing:

• Indicative (hay) is used for:

  • general, habitual facts or regular patterns:
    • Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.
      → You’re stating a general rule about yourself.

• Subjunctive (haya) would appear if:

  • You’re talking about a future event not yet realized, after certain types of main clauses:
    • En el futuro, si alguna vez haya ruido… (even this sounds forced; more natural would still be hay)
  • Or in structures that require subjunctive (e.g., commands, wishes, conditions with certain verbs).

For a general statement about how you usually react, cuando hay ruido with the indicative is the correct and natural choice.

Could ruido be plural: cuando hay ruidos en la ciudad? What’s the difference?

You can say hay ruidos, but the nuance changes:

• hay ruido (singular, uncountable) – like English “there is noise”:

  • Focuses on noise as a general background sound or general noisiness.
  • This is what you usually want here.

• hay ruidos (plural, countable) – “there are noises”:

  • Suggests specific, distinct sounds (bangs, knocks, strange noises, etc.).
  • Used more when you mean particular noises you can distinguish.

In your sentence, you mean general urban noise, so cuando hay ruido en la ciudad (singular) is the most natural.

Is ansiedad the same as the English “anxiety,” or is it more like “nervousness”?

Ansiedad usually corresponds directly to English “anxiety”, especially in:

• medical/psychological contexts:
  
  • trastorno de ansiedad – anxiety disorder
• talking about a chronic issue:
  • Tengo mucha ansiedad.

It can sometimes be used a bit more loosely, closer to “nervousness” or “restlessness,” but in a sentence like:

• Mi ansiedad es mayor cuando hay ruido en la ciudad.

a Spanish speaker will typically understand it as psychological anxiety, not just mild nerves.