Learn Spanish (Latin America): Me molesta que el gerente ignore lo que exijo. - It bothers me that the manager ignores what I demand.

Me molesta que el gerente ignore lo que exijo.

It bothers me that the manager ignores what I demand.

Breakdown of Me molesta que el gerente ignore lo que exijo.

que

that / than

to me / me (direct object)

Questions & Answers about Me molesta que el gerente ignore lo que exijo.

Why do we need to use lo que in this sentence instead of just que?

When it means "what" or "the thing that" in the middle of a sentence, you use the neuter pronoun lo que. It refers to an abstract idea or action rather than a specific masculine or feminine noun. Here, it represents the abstract concept of "the stuff I demand."

Why does this sentence use ignore instead of the normal present tense ignora?

The verb ignorar is in the subjunctive mood (ignore) because it follows Me molesta que (It bothers me that). Whenever you express a personal emotion or reaction about what someone else is doing, Spanish requires the subjunctive for that action.

If the sentence starts with an emotion, why isn't exijo also in the subjunctive?

The emotional trigger (Me molesta que) only forces the first action (the manager ignoring you) into the subjunctive. The verb exijo is just a simple statement of fact describing what you demand, so it stays in the normal present tense (indicative).

Why is exijo spelled with a "j" if the infinitive is exigir?

In Spanish, the letter "g" makes a soft, h-like sound before "e" or "i", but a hard sound before "a", "o", or "u". To keep that soft sound for the "yo" form, the spelling changes from "g" to "j" (exijo). If it stayed a "g" (exigo), it would sound like the "g" in "go."