Learn Spanish (Latin America): Nunca imaginé lo difícil que sería envejecer. - I never imagined how hard growing old would be.

Nunca imaginé lo difícil que sería envejecer.

I never imagined how hard growing old would be.

Breakdown of Nunca imaginé lo difícil que sería envejecer.

Questions & Answers about Nunca imaginé lo difícil que sería envejecer.

Why does the sentence use lo difícil que to mean "how hard"?

In Spanish, you cannot use cómo followed by an adjective to mean "how [adjective]." Instead, the standard structure is the neuter article lo + adjective + que. So, lo difícil que is the natural way to say "how difficult" or "how hard" something is.

Why is sería (conditional) used here instead of a subjunctive verb?

The conditional sería is used to express the "future in the past." When you were doing the imagining in the past (imaginé), the act of growing old was still in the future ("would be"). Even though negative verbs of thought like no imaginé often trigger the subjunctive, this clause functions as an indirect exclamation ("How hard it would be!") where the indicative or conditional is required.

Why is envejecer in the infinitive instead of a gerund like "envejeciendo"?

In English, we often use verbs ending in "-ing" as nouns, like "growing old" in this sentence. However, in Spanish, the infinitive (envejecer) is always used when a verb acts as a noun or the subject of a sentence. You cannot use the gerund for this.

Why does the subject envejecer come at the very end of the sentence?