ELONIO
Log inSign up

¡Qué coraje que destruyan la calle peatonal!

¡Qué coraje que destruyan la calle peatonal!
How infuriating that they are destroying the pedestrian street!
From Lesson 292:Evaluative exclamations (¡Qué... que...!)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about ¡Qué coraje que destruyan la calle peatonal!

Doesn't coraje mean "courage"? Why is it translated as "infuriating" here?
While coraje can mean "courage," in many parts of Latin America (especially Mexico), it is very commonly used to mean "anger," "rage," or "annoyance." So, ¡Qué coraje! translates to "How infuriating!" or "It makes me so mad!"
Why is destruyan in the subjunctive instead of the indicative destruyen?
The subjunctive is used because the first part of the sentence (¡Qué coraje que...) expresses an emotion or personal evaluation about an action. When you use the formula ¡Qué + noun/adjective + que, the verb that follows must be in the subjunctive.
Where does the "y" come from in destruyan?
The verb is destruir (to destroy). Verbs ending in -uir (like construir or huir) add a y before the ending in most present tense forms, including all present subjunctive forms. So, the base becomes destruy- and the "they" ending is -an, giving us destruyan.
Why doesn't the sentence say who is destroying the street?
Spanish often uses the third-person plural (the "they" form, like destruyan here) to talk about an action happening without specifying exactly who is doing it. It is similar to saying "they are fixing the road" in English, where "they" just means the city workers or the authorities.

Learn ¡Qué coraje que destruyan la calle peatonal and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →