Breakdown of ¿La altitud es más peligrosa de lo que los alpinistas creen?
ser
to be
de
from / of
los
the (masculine plural)
peligroso
dangerous
Questions & Answers about ¿La altitud es más peligrosa de lo que los alpinistas creen?
Why do we use 'de lo que' instead of just 'que' for 'than' in this sentence?
Is 'altitud' a feminine word? It doesn't end in '-a'.
Why does 'alpinistas' use the masculine article 'los' if it ends in '-as'?
Nouns ending in the suffix -ista (like alpinista, artista, or turista) can be masculine or feminine depending on who you are talking about. When referring to a general or mixed-gender group of climbers, Spanish uses the masculine plural los alpinistas.
Why is 'creen' in the indicative and not the subjunctive?
In clausal comparatives like this, you use the indicative (creen) when referring to an established fact or reality. The sentence is comparing the actual altitude to the real, existing belief of the climbers, so no subjunctive is needed.