Breakdown of Escalar cerca del abismo es más estresante de lo que imaginas.
ser
to be
de
from / of
cerca
close / near
del
from the / of the
que
that / than
más
more
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
imaginar
to imagine
estresante
stressful
escalar
to climb (mountains, rocks)
el abismo
abyss
Questions & Answers about Escalar cerca del abismo es más estresante de lo que imaginas.
Why is "than" translated as de lo que here instead of just que?
Normally, you use que for "than" when comparing two nouns or pronouns (like soy más alto que tú). But here, you are comparing the adjective estresante to an entire clause with a conjugated verb (imaginas). In Spanish, when you compare an adjective or adverb to a conjugated verb, you must use de lo que instead of just que.
Why does the sentence use the infinitive escalar to mean "climbing"? Shouldn't it be escalando?
In English, we often use words ending in "-ing" as the subject of a sentence, like "Climbing is stressful." In Spanish, you cannot use the -ando or -iendo forms as the subject. Instead, you always use the infinitive form of the verb, which is escalar here.
Does the adjective estresante need to agree in gender with escalar?
Just to review, why is it cerca del abismo instead of cerca el abismo?
The phrase for "close to" or "near" is cerca de. Because abismo is a masculine noun (el abismo), the preposition de and the article el combine to form the mandatory contraction del.
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