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Esta imitación de cuero sintético es mala mala.

Esta imitación de cuero sintético es mala mala.
This synthetic leather imitation is bad bad.
From Lesson 484:Extreme degree by repetition·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Esta imitación de cuero sintético es mala mala.

Why is mala repeated at the end of the sentence?
Repeating an adjective is a common conversational way to express maximum degree in Spanish. Instead of saying muy mala or malísima, saying mala mala emphasizes that the imitation is truly terrible and sets it up as the ultimate example of a bad product.
Since cuero sintético is masculine, shouldn't the ending be malo malo?
The repeated adjective describes the core subject of the sentence, which is imitación, a feminine noun. Even though the masculine word cuero is closer to the verb, it is just part of the prepositional phrase describing the imitation. Both repeated words in the reduplication must agree in gender and number with the noun they actually modify.
Does this double adjective repetition mean the exact same thing as malísima?
They both intensify the meaning, but mala mala feels much more colloquial and emphatic. While malísima just means very bad, repeating the word often implies that it is prototypically bad, meaning it perfectly represents the absolute worst traits you could possibly expect from an imitation.
Is there a specific way to pronounce mala mala?
Yes, you should say the two words back-to-back without a pause, treating them almost like a single compound word. In spoken Latin American Spanish, you will usually put a slightly heavier vocal stress on the second mala to really drive the point home.

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