Breakdown of Con lo frustrante que es caminar aquí, necesitamos encontrar un atajo.
ser
to be
un
a, an (masculine)
necesitar
to need
aquí
here
caminar
to walk
con
with
encontrar
to find
que
that / than
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
frustrante
frustrating
el atajo
the shortcut
Questions & Answers about Con lo frustrante que es caminar aquí, necesitamos encontrar un atajo.
How does con lo frustrante que work here, and what exactly does it mean?
Why is the verb es in the indicative rather than the subjunctive? Doesn't frustrante express an opinion?
Even though emotion or opinion adjectives often trigger the subjunctive in other structures, the formula con lo [adjective] que takes the indicative when you are declaring a known, experienced fact. You are stating the frustration as an established reality ("it is frustrating"), not treating it as a subjective doubt or emotional reaction, which grounds it as the solid reason for your next action.
Why do we use lo before frustrante? Isn't lo usually a direct object pronoun?
In this case, lo is a neuter article, not an object pronoun. When you put lo in front of an adjective like frustrante, it turns the adjective into an abstract concept. In this specific grammar pattern, it quantifies the adjective, meaning "the degree of frustration" or "how frustrating" the situation is.
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