Breakdown of El problema es urgente, por eso te lo explico.
ser
to be
el problema
the problem
explicar
to explain
te
to you / you (direct object)
lo
it / him (direct object)
por eso
therefore / that's why
urgente
urgent
Questions & Answers about El problema es urgente, por eso te lo explico.
How exactly does por eso translate to "that's why"?
Why is it el problema instead of la problema?
Even though it ends in "-a", problema is a masculine word. This happens with several Spanish words that originally come from Greek, such as el tema (the topic) or el sistema (the system). You just have to memorize these common exceptions!
In te lo explico, what do te and lo mean, and why are they in that order?
These are object pronouns. te means "to you" and lo means "it" (the problem). When you use two pronouns together, the indirect object (the person receiving the action, te) always comes before the direct object (the thing being acted on, lo). Just remember: people generally come before things in Spanish pronoun order.
The translation says "I am explaining". Why not use estoy explicando?
In Spanish, the simple present tense like explico (I explain) is used much more often than in English to talk about things happening right now. While you could say te lo estoy explicando (I am explaining it to you), using the simple present sounds very natural and direct for stating what you are doing in the moment.
Learn El problema es urgente, por eso te lo explico and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free