Learn Spanish (Latin America): Podrías ser más comprensivo. La lavadora hace mucho ruido. - You could be more understanding. The washing machine makes a lot of noise.

Podrías ser más comprensivo. La lavadora hace mucho ruido.

You could be more understanding. The washing machine makes a lot of noise.

Breakdown of Podrías ser más comprensivo. La lavadora hace mucho ruido.

Questions & Answers about Podrías ser más comprensivo. La lavadora hace mucho ruido.

Why use the conditional podrías here instead of the present tense puedes?

Podrías translates to "you could." We use the conditional tense here to soften the criticism. Saying puedes ser ("you can be") states a fact about their ability, but podrías ser makes it a polite suggestion or a gentle reproach.

Is comprensivo related to the English word "comprehensive"?

No, it is a false friend! Comprensivo means "understanding" or "sympathetic" (from the verb comprender, to understand). If you want to say "comprehensive" in the sense of complete or thorough, you would use completo or exhaustivo.

Why do we use ser instead of estar with comprensivo? Aren't we talking about how they are acting right now?

Even if you are asking someone to change their behavior in the moment, comprensivo (understanding) is treated as a personality trait or characteristic. In Spanish, we use ser for defining traits, so "to be an understanding person" requires ser.

Why do we use hace in hace mucho ruido?

Just like in English, Spanish uses the verb hacer (to make or to do) to talk about producing sound. You will often see hacer used in set phrases where other verbs might seem logical to a learner, such as hacer una pregunta (to ask a question) or hacer daño (to cause harm).