Breakdown of Tú sabes lo rígido que era, por eso exigió que el subordinado no hablara.
ser
to be
tú
you (informal singular)
no
no, not
hablar
to speak / to talk
saber
to know (facts) / to hear from (someone)
que
that / than
por eso
therefore / that's why
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
exigir
to demand
el subordinado
the subordinate
rígido
strict / rigid (inflexible, stiff)
Questions & Answers about Tú sabes lo rígido que era, por eso exigió que el subordinado no hablara.
Why is hablara in the imperfect subjunctive here?
This sentence reports a past demand. The main verb exigió (demanded) is in the past tense and expresses influence over someone else's actions. Just like present tense commands trigger the present subjunctive (exige que el subordinado no hable), past tense commands trigger the past, or imperfect, subjunctive (exigió que el subordinado no hablara).
How does lo rígido que translate to "how strict"?
The formula lo + [adjective] + que is a very common way in Spanish to express "how" plus an adjective. Literally, it translates to something like "the strict that he was," but it is the standard phrasing for expressions like "You know how strict he was" (Tú sabes lo rígido que era) or "I saw how big it is" (Vi lo grande que es).
Why is era in the imperfect while exigió is in the preterite?
Era (was) is in the imperfect because it describes an ongoing characteristic or background state of the person in the past. Being strict wasn't an action with a clear start and end. Exigió (demanded) is in the preterite because making the demand was a specific, completed event that happened at a particular point in time.
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