Breakdown of Tengo que decir que su frialdad es menos desagradable ahora.
ser
to be
tener
to have
ahora
now
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
que
that / than
menos
to (telling time) / minus / less
decir
to say, to tell
desagradable
unpleasant
la frialdad
the coldness
Questions & Answers about Tengo que decir que su frialdad es menos desagradable ahora.
The current lesson is about using resultar, but this sentence uses es. Could I use resulta instead?
Yes! You could say su frialdad resulta menos desagradable ahora. While es simply states the objective fact that the coldness is less unpleasant, using a pseudo-copulative verb like resulta adds a subjective layer. It means the coldness 'turns out to be' or 'strikes me as' less unpleasant based on your personal evaluation.
Why do we use es here when ahora implies a change in time, which normally triggers estar?
Even though ahora shows a contrast with the past, the unpleasantness is still treated as an inherent characteristic of the coldness itself, so we stick with ser (es). If you wanted to emphasize how this trait subjectively feels to you right now, using resulta (as taught in this lesson) is a much more natural choice than trying to force estar.
Does su frialdad exclusively mean 'his coldness'?
How is the noun frialdad formed from the adjective frío?
The suffix -dad in Spanish works much like '-ness' or '-ity' in English to create abstract nouns. However, notice the spelling shift here: instead of just attaching directly to the root, an extra 'al' is inserted, giving us frialdad (coldness). You will see a similar pattern in words like feo (ugly), which becomes fealdad (ugliness).
Learn Tengo que decir que su frialdad es menos desagradable ahora 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