Breakdown of Ella se alegra de que sus compañeros de piso siempre hagan la limpieza.
ella
she / her (after a preposition)
siempre
always
su
his / her / their / your (formal)
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Ella se alegra de que sus compañeros de piso siempre hagan la limpieza.
Why do we use the subjunctive hagan here instead of the indicative hacen?
The verb alegrarse (to be glad) expresses an emotion. In Spanish, when you express an emotion about an action performed by someone else, you must use the subjunctive. Because she is feeling an emotion about what her roommates do, the verb hacer becomes hagan.
Why is it se alegra de que and not just se alegra que?
The verb phrase is officially alegrarse de (to be glad about). When you connect it to a new clause using que, you must keep the de, resulting in de que. Forgetting the preposition is a common mistake for English speakers, so always remember to learn the prepositions that are built into a verb!
Could I just use the verb limpiar instead of hacer la limpieza?
What does de piso add to compañeros?
On its own, compañeros can mean colleagues, classmates, or companions. Adding de piso (literally of the apartment or flat) clarifies that these are flatmates or roommates, which is the standard term used in Spain.