Breakdown of El proyecto es una locura tan tremenda que estamos desesperados.
ser
to be
un
a, an, some
estar
to be (location/state)
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
Questions & Answers about El proyecto es una locura tan tremenda que estamos desesperados.
Why do we use tan here instead of tanta if the phrase means "such a" and refers to locura?
In Spanish, tan (so) is used to modify adjectives, and here it is modifying the adjective tremenda. The literal structure is "a madness so tremendous". You only use tanto/tanta (so much) when modifying a noun directly, like tanta locura.
Could I just say El proyecto es tanta locura que... instead?
Yes! If you remove the adjective tremenda, you must switch to tanta because it directly modifies the feminine noun locura (meaning "so much madness"). But whenever you want to include an adjective to describe exactly how crazy it is, you use the common pattern un/una [noun] tan [adjective] que.
Why do we say una locura (a madness) when the English translation just says "madness"?
In Spanish, locura frequently acts as a countable noun meaning "a crazy thing" or "a crazy situation". Saying es una locura is the most natural way to say "it is crazy" or "it is madness". English usually uses uncountable nouns or adjectives here, but Spanish prefers to include the article una.
Why does the sentence use es for the project but estamos for us?