Breakdown of ¡La de tiempo que pierden en ese ocio improductivo!
de
from / of
en
in / on / at
ese
that (masculine)
el tiempo
time
perder
to lose
que
that / than
la
the (feminine)
el ocio
the leisure
improductivo
unproductive
Questions & Answers about ¡La de tiempo que pierden en ese ocio improductivo!
What exactly does La de mean at the beginning of this sentence?
It is a very common, emphatic shorthand for la cantidad de (the amount of). At a B2 level, you will often hear native speakers use ¡La de... que...! to marvel at or exaggerate the sheer volume of something. For example, ¡La de cosas que tengo que hacer! (The amount of things I have to do!).
Since this lesson is about spending time using pasarse + gerund, could we use that structure here?
You could use it, but it changes the meaning. The verb perder specifically highlights that the time is being wasted or lost, whereas pasarse neutrally describes spending time. If you wanted to use the lesson's structure to complain about them spending time this way, you could say ¡Se la pasan perdiendo el tiempo en ese ocio improductivo!
Why do we use the preposition en after pierden here?
When talking about wasting, spending, or investing time on a specific thing or activity, Spanish verbs like perder (to waste/lose), gastar (to spend), and invertir (to invest) are typically followed by the preposition en. It functions just like saying you waste time on something in English.
Is ocio the most common way to say 'free time' in Latin America?
Tiempo libre is the more common, everyday translation for 'free time'. Ocio is a bit more conceptual, directly translating to 'leisure' or 'idleness' as a concept. In this sentence, ocio improductivo emphasizes the lazy, idle nature of what they are doing rather than just referring to a block of free time off the clock.
Learn ¡La de tiempo que pierden en ese ocio improductivo and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free