Question 1

What exactly is "reduro" and how is it formed?

Accepted Answer

Reduro is a colloquial way of saying "super hard" or "really hard." It's formed by attaching the intensive prefix re- directly to the adjective duro (hard). In much of Latin America, adding re- is a very common, everyday alternative to using muy (very) or the -ísimo ending.

Question 2

Is the prefix always attached to the word like that, without a space?

Accepted Answer

Yes! When you use re- or súper- as prefixes to make an adjective or adverb stronger, they are attached directly to the word with no space or hyphen. It is written as reduro, not re duro or re-duro.

Question 3

Why does this sentence use "está" instead of "es"? Isn't a floor permanently hard?

Accepted Answer

You would use es to state an objective fact about the floor's material (e.g., concrete is hard). However, using está here emphasizes the speaker's physical, sensory experience in the moment. It translates more closely to "The floor feels super hard right now."

Question 4

Why does it say "la espalda" (the back) instead of "mi espalda" (my back)?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, when referring to body parts or clothing, you almost always use the definite article (el, la, los, las) instead of a possessive adjective like mi. Because the speaker already said me duele (it hurts to me), it's already obvious whose back is hurting!

Question 5

Can you remind me why it is "me duele" and not "yo duelo"?

Accepted Answer

The verb doler (to hurt/to ache) works just like the verb gustar. The body part is actually the subject of the sentence doing the action. So, me duele la espalda literally translates to "the back causes pain to me."

El piso está reduro y me duele la espalda.

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