El monólogo del final me impresionó más de lo que esperaba, porque la actriz hablaba muy bajo.

Del is the contraction of de + el.

• de + el → del
• So el monólogo del final literally contains the monologue of the end / at the end

This contraction is required with el unless el is part of a proper name, like de El Escorial.

They are similar, but not exactly identical.

• el monólogo del final = the monologue at the end / the monologue from the ending
• el monólogo final = the final monologue

In many contexts they could mean the same thing, but del final emphasizes its position in the work, while final works more like an adjective describing the monologue itself.

Me impresionó means it impressed me.

Breakdown:

• me = me
• impresionó = third person singular preterite of impresionar

The subject is el monólogo del final, so literally:

• El monólogo del final me impresionó = The monologue at the end impressed me

Spanish often structures this idea differently from English. Instead of saying I was impressed by the monologue, it often says the monologue impressed me.

The me is the indirect/object pronoun meaning me in the sense of affected me or impressed me.

Compare:

• Me impresionó = It impressed me
• Te impresionó = It impressed you
• Nos impresionó = It impressed us

Without me, the sentence would be incomplete because impresionar here needs to say who was impressed.

Impresionó is the preterite, which presents the impression as a completed event.

Here, the speaker is talking about a specific reaction to a particular monologue, so the preterite fits well:

• me impresionó = it impressed me / it had a strong effect on me

If you said me impresionaba, that would sound more like:

• an ongoing or repeated effect
• background description
• something habitual

So in this sentence, impresionó is the natural choice.

Más de lo que esperaba is the normal structure after a comparative when you mean more than I expected.

Pattern:

• más de lo que + verb
• menos de lo que + verb

Examples:

• Fue más difícil de lo que pensaba.
• Llegó antes de lo que esperábamos.

Here:

• más de lo que esperaba = more than I expected

Using más que esperaba would usually sound unnatural in this context. After más, Spanish often uses de lo que when what follows is a clause.

Here lo que means something like what or that which.

So:

• de lo que esperaba = than what I expected

It is a very common structure in Spanish. Lo turns que into a neutral idea: what, that which, the thing that.

A rough literal breakdown is:

• más de lo que esperaba = more than what I expected

Even if that sounds a bit stiff in English, it is very natural in Spanish.

Esperaba is the imperfect, and here it refers to the speaker’s prior expectation, not a finished action.

The idea is:

• what I was expecting
• what I had in mind beforehand

So esperaba fits because it describes a mental state or ongoing expectation in the background.

If you used esperé, that would usually mean I waited or, in some contexts, I expected as a completed event, which does not fit as naturally here.

Hablaba is the imperfect, used here to describe the way the actress was speaking as background information.

The sentence is not focusing on one completed act of speaking. It is describing the manner of her speech during the scene:

• la actriz hablaba muy bajo = the actress was speaking very quietly / spoke very softly

The imperfect is common for:

• description
• background
• ongoing actions
• habitual actions

If you said habló muy bajo, it would sound more like a completed event: she spoke very softly, with more focus on the action as a whole.

Because bajo here is not describing la actriz. It is describing how she spoke, so it works like an adverb.

• hablar bajo = to speak quietly / softly
• hablar muy bajo = to speak very quietly

Since it modifies the verb hablaba, it does not agree with actriz.

Compare:

• La actriz era baja. = The actress was short.
  Here baja is an adjective describing the actress.
• La actriz hablaba bajo. = The actress spoke quietly.
  Here bajo describes the manner of speaking.

Yes. Hablar muy bajito is very common and sounds a bit softer or more colloquial.

Compare:

• hablar muy bajo = neutral, standard
• hablar muy bajito = very softly, a little more expressive

Both are natural in Spain.

Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• esperaba can mean I was expecting or he/she was expecting, depending on context
• Here the context makes it clear that it means I expected

So yo esperaba is possible, but unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

In this sentence, porque is the conjunction meaning because.

• porque = because
• por qué = why

Examples:

• Me fui porque estaba cansado. = I left because I was tired.
• ¿Por qué te fuiste? = Why did you leave?

So here porque la actriz hablaba muy bajo gives the reason.

The given word order is natural, but Spanish has some flexibility.

Standard version:

• El monólogo del final me impresionó más de lo que esperaba, porque la actriz hablaba muy bajo.

You could also hear:

• Me impresionó más de lo que esperaba el monólogo del final, porque la actriz hablaba muy bajo.

That version is grammatical, but less neutral. The original sounds more straightforward and natural for most situations.

So the word order is not completely fixed, but the original is a very good default.