Breakdown of ¡Qué barbaridad que el comité vecinal apruebe eso!
qué
what
eso
that (neuter)
que
that / than
aprobar
to approve
Questions & Answers about ¡Qué barbaridad que el comité vecinal apruebe eso!
Why is apruebe in the subjunctive instead of the indicative (aprueba)?
The phrase ¡Qué barbaridad que...! is an evaluative exclamation. Even though the committee approving it is a fact, you are expressing a strong emotion or judgment about that fact ("What an outrage!"). In Spanish, reacting to or evaluating an action requires the subjunctive in the clause that follows que.
Why does the verb aprobar change to apruebe here?
Aprobar (to approve) is an "o-to-ue" stem-changing verb. To form the present subjunctive, you start with the "yo" form of the present indicative (apruebo), drop the -o, and add the opposite ending. Since it's an -ar verb, it takes the -e ending for the third-person singular (el comité), giving us apruebe.
Does barbaridad always mean something negative like "outrage"?
Not always! While it often means "outrage," "atrocity," or "nonsense" (as it does here), it is also commonly used to express sheer astonishment. Depending on your tone of voice, ¡Qué barbaridad! can mean "Wow, that's incredible!" or "That's a crazy amount!"
Why is it eso and not ese?