Breakdown of Lo de que reducen el aforo es indignante.
ser
to be
de
from / of
que
that / than
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
Questions & Answers about Lo de que reducen el aforo es indignante.
How does the phrase lo de que work in this sentence?
In Spanish, lo de refers to a situation, matter, or 'the thing about...'. By adding que, you can follow it with a fully conjugated clause like reducen el aforo instead of just a noun or infinitive. Together, lo de que packages the whole situation ('the fact that they are reducing the capacity') so you can comment on it as the subject of the sentence.
Emotion phrases like es indignante usually trigger the subjunctive. Why is reducen in the indicative here?
This is a great catch! If you said 'It is outrageous that they reduce...', you would indeed use the subjunctive: es indignante que reduzcan el aforo. However, lo de que treats the reduction as an independent, established fact ('the matter of them reducing it'). Because you are just pointing to a factual situation that already exists using lo de que, the verb inside that phrase stays in the indicative (reducen).
What is the difference between using lo de que and just lo que here?
Lo que means 'that which' or 'what'. If you said lo que reducen es indignante, it would mean 'the specific thing they are reducing is outrageous'. Lo de que means 'the matter of' or 'the situation that'. Here, you aren't saying the capacity itself is outrageous, but rather the entire situation of them deciding to reduce it.
Why use the word aforo instead of ?