Breakdown of La atención al cliente es terrible, lo que frustra mucho.
ser
to be
mucho
many / a lot
al
to the
que
that / than
el cliente
the customer
terrible
terrible / awful
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
frustrar
to frustrate
la atención
the attention / the service
Questions & Answers about La atención al cliente es terrible, lo que frustra mucho.
Why use lo que here instead of just que?
The word que usually refers back to a specific noun. In this sentence, "which" doesn't refer to the noun cliente (customer) or atención (service). It refers to the entire situation—the fact that the service is terrible. Whenever you need to refer back to a complete preceding idea or situation rather than a single word, you use the neuter phrase lo que.
Could I use lo cual instead of lo que in this sentence?
Why is "customer service" translated as atención al cliente?
Literally, atención al cliente means "attention to the customer" or "care to the customer." While English uses the word "service," Spanish relies on atención for the concept of attending to someone's needs. This is the standard, fixed phrase you will see in businesses across Latin America.
Why do we use es instead of está for "is terrible"? Can't customer service change?
Even though service quality can theoretically change, the speaker is stating this as a defining characteristic or fundamental quality of the company's service, not a temporary mood or condition. For describing inherent characteristics, we always use the verb ser, which gives us es.
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