Learn Spanish (Latin America): El mercado laboral es complicado y requiere un posgrado. - The job market is complicated and requires a postgraduate degree.

El mercado laboral es complicado y requiere un posgrado.

The job market is complicated and requires a postgraduate degree.

Breakdown of El mercado laboral es complicado y requiere un posgrado.

Questions & Answers about El mercado laboral es complicado y requiere un posgrado.

Why does this say mercado laboral instead of translating "job" literally as trabajo?

Laboral is an adjective that means "related to work or labor." While you could say mercado de trabajo, saying mercado laboral is the most natural and common way to express "job market" or "labor market" in Spanish.

Could I use está complicado instead of es complicado here?

Yes, but it changes the nuance slightly. Using es complicado (from the verb ser) describes the job market as inherently or generally complicated. If you used está complicado (from estar), you would be emphasizing that it is currently complicated as a temporary situation or a recent shift.

What is the infinitive of requiere, and is it a stem-changing verb?

The infinitive is requerir (to require). It is an "e to ie" stem-changing verb in the present tense, which is why the "e" in the stem becomes "ie" for the third-person singular form requiere.

Does un posgrado refer to the degree itself or the student?

It refers to the degree. In Spanish, un posgrado is a noun meaning "a postgraduate degree" (like a Master's). If you wanted to talk about a postgraduate student, you would need to say un estudiante de posgrado.