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Es increíble que sea tan tacaño. Fue una cita fatal.

Es increíble que sea tan tacaño. Fue una cita fatal.
It is incredible that he is so stingy. It was a terrible date.
From Lesson 255:Saying 'anyway' (de todos modos, de todas formas)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Es increíble que sea tan tacaño. Fue una cita fatal.

Why is sea used in the first sentence instead of es?
The phrase Es increíble que expresses an opinion, doubt, or strong emotion about a situation. In Spanish, these types of impersonal expressions trigger the subjunctive mood. That is why we use sea (the subjunctive form of ser) instead of the normal present tense es.
Doesn't fatal mean deadly? Why does the translation say 'terrible'?
Fatal is a false friend! While it can mean 'deadly' in certain news or medical contexts, in everyday spoken Spanish it is almost always used to mean awful, terrible, or disastrous. A cita fatal is simply a really bad date.
Why do we use tan before tacaño instead of tanto?
We use tan (meaning 'so') directly before adjectives and adverbs. Because tacaño (stingy) is an adjective, we need tan. If we were describing a noun instead, like 'so much money', we would use tanto dinero.
How could we use the marker de todos modos with these sentences?
You can use de todos modos (anyway / in any case) to naturally link these thoughts. For example: Es increíble que sea tan tacaño. De todos modos, fue una cita fatal. This concessive marker shifts the focus, showing that regardless of his stinginess, the overall date was a disaster anyway.
Why does the speaker use the preterite Fue instead of the imperfect Era for 'It was a terrible date'?
We use the preterite Fue because the date is being evaluated as a single, completed event that is now over. If the speaker were setting the background scene to tell a longer story about what happened during the date, they might use Era, but here it acts as a final summary of the experience.

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