Breakdown of Me molesta que la arena haya caído tan rápido.
rápido
fast
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
molestar
to bother
caer
to fall
tan
as / so
haber
(auxiliary) have
la arena
the sand
Questions & Answers about Me molesta que la arena haya caído tan rápido.
Why use haya caído instead of the regular present perfect ha caído?
The phrase Me molesta que (It bothers me that) expresses an emotion. In Spanish, when you state an emotional reaction to an action that has already finished, you must use the present perfect subjunctive. This is formed with the subjunctive of haber (haya) plus the past participle (caído).
Why does the past participle caído have an accent mark?
The verb caer (to fall) combines a strong vowel (a) and a weak vowel (i) in its participle. To ensure they are pronounced as two separate syllables (ca-í-do) rather than blending into a single sound, you need an accent mark on the 'i'. You will also see this rule applied in words like leído (read) or traído (brought).
I thought adverbs usually end in -mente. Why does this sentence just use rápido?
While you could absolutely say rápidamente (quickly), it is very common in everyday Spanish to use certain adjectives as adverbs without changing their form. Rápido (fast) and lento (slow) are frequently used this way to describe how an action is done.
Why use tan here instead of tanto?
Tan translates to 'so' and is always used before adjectives and adverbs, like rápido in this sentence. You would use tanto (so much or so many) when talking about nouns or after a verb, for example: Hay tanta arena (There is so much sand).
Why does the sentence start with Me molesta? Shouldn't it be Yo molesto?
The verb molestar works just like gustar. The thing doing the bothering (the sand falling) is actually the subject of the sentence. The Me is an indirect object pronoun showing who is receiving that bother. A literal translation would be 'It is bothersome to me that...'.
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