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Ojalá que no sea un resfriado con mucha tos.

Ojalá que no sea un resfriado con mucha tos.
I hope it is not a cold with a lot of coughing.
From Lesson 202:Expressing hopes (ojalá que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ojalá que no sea un resfriado con mucha tos.

Why is sea used here instead of the normal present tense es?
The word ojalá expresses a strong wish or hope, which always triggers the subjunctive mood in Spanish. Sea is the present subjunctive form of the verb ser.
Can I leave out the que after ojalá?
Yes, the que is completely optional. You can say Ojalá no sea... and it means the exact same thing. Whether you include que or not, you still must use the subjunctive verb.
Why use a form of ser (sea) instead of estar (esté)? Isn't an illness temporary?
While it is true that you use estar to describe a temporary state of health (like estoy enfermo), here you are identifying what a thing is: "it is a cold". Whenever you define or identify a noun, you must use ser.
Why does "a lot of coughing" translate to mucha tos?
In English, "coughing" is an action word being used as a noun. Spanish sounds much more natural here using the simple noun for a cough, which is la tos. Since tos is a feminine word, it takes the feminine adjective mucha.

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