Breakdown of Es audaz mezclar lo retro con lo moderno.
ser
to be
con
with
moderno
modern
mezclar
to mix
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
retro
retro
audaz
bold
Questions & Answers about Es audaz mezclar lo retro con lo moderno.
Since the current lesson is about a lo phrases, why don't we say mezclar a lo retro?
The phrase a lo + adjective means "in a [blank] way" or "in the style of" (it acts as an adverb describing how an action is done). If you said mezclar a lo retro, it would mean "to mix in a retro way." Here, we aren't describing how the mixing is done; we are talking about the things being mixed: "the retro" and "the modern." To turn an adjective into an abstract noun like this, we just use lo + adjective.
Why do we use the neuter article lo instead of el or la for retro and moderno?
The neuter article lo turns an adjective into an abstract noun that represents a general concept, category, or quality. Lo retro translates to "retro things in general" or "that which is retro." If you used el or la, it would imply a specific, omitted noun that you were referring back to (such as el estilo retro or la época moderna).
I noticed retro doesn't end in -o or -a. Does it ever change its form to match gender or number?
No, retro is an invariable adjective in Spanish. It is originally a prefix that became popular as a standalone word, so it never changes to match gender or number (for example, las camisas retro). Moderno, on the other hand, is a standard adjective and does change (las camisas modernas). In this sentence, both are paired with the neuter singular lo, so they take their default masculine/neuter singular forms.
Why is mezclar in the infinitive here instead of being conjugated?
This sentence uses the impersonal structure es + [adjective] + [infinitive], which translates directly to English as "It is [adjective] to [verb]." Because you are making a general statement and there is no specific person doing the mixing, the infinitive mezclar is used. If you wanted to specify a subject, you would need to use que followed by the subjunctive mood (for example, Es audaz que mezcles... meaning "It is bold that you mix...").
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