Breakdown of Masticar palomitas fuerte es un hábito muy molesto.
ser
to be
un
a, an (masculine)
muy
very
fuerte
strong / loudly
Questions & Answers about Masticar palomitas fuerte es un hábito muy molesto.
Why does the sentence use masticar (to chew) instead of a form ending in -ndo like the English translation "chewing"?
In English, we use the "-ing" form (the gerund) as the subject of a sentence, like "Chewing is annoying." In Spanish, you must use the infinitive (the unconjugated verb ending in -ar, -er, or -ir) when a verb is acting as the subject of a sentence. So, masticar is the correct way to say "chewing" here. You would never use masticando as a subject.
Why is fuerte used here to mean "loudly"? Shouldn't it be an adverb ending in -mente?
While you could use an adverb, Spanish often uses certain adjectives in their basic masculine singular form to act as adverbs, especially in everyday speech. Fuerte is very commonly used this way to mean "loudly" or "hard" after a verb. Other examples include hablar rápido (to speak fast) and trabajar duro (to work hard).
Does molesto mean something more severe like "molested"?
No, molesto is a classic "false friend." When describing a thing or a habit like in this sentence, it simply means "annoying" or "bothersome." If you use it to describe a person, it means they are "annoyed" or "upset." The verb molestar just means "to bother" or "to annoy."
How would I use this lesson's topic (dejar de) to tell someone to stop doing this?