Breakdown of Lo malo del verano es que esos chicos vagos se pasan el día holgazaneando.
ser
to be
el día
the day
el chico
the boy (older / teenager)
del
from the / of the
que
that / than
el verano
summer
esos
those (masculine)
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
malo
bad
vago
lazy
pasarse
to spend (time)
holgazanear
to laze around
Questions & Answers about Lo malo del verano es que esos chicos vagos se pasan el día holgazaneando.
Why is se pasan used here instead of just pasan?
The verb pasar can be used on its own to mean to spend time, but adding the reflexive pronoun to make it pasarse adds emphasis. It highlights that the action takes up the whole duration or feels excessive. In this structure (pasarse + time expression + gerund), it emphasizes that these kids are spending their entire day doing nothing but lazing around.
Since we are talking about something being bad, why don't we use the subjunctive after es que?
This is a classic trap! If you say es malo que... (it is bad that...), you use the subjunctive because you are passing judgment on an action. However, the structure lo malo es que... (the bad thing is that...) is used to declare a fact or define what the bad thing actually is. Because you are stating a reality, you use the indicative se pasan.
How does Lo malo work here? Could I say El malo instead?
You need to use lo malo here. The neuter article lo is used with an adjective to turn it into an abstract concept. Here, lo malo means the bad thing or that which is bad. If you said el malo, it would refer to a specific masculine noun, like a specific bad kid or a movie villain.
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