Breakdown of Hablar de sexo con los niños no es fácil.
ser
to be
el niño
the boy / the child
de
of
con
with / just by (+ -ing)
no
no / not
fácil
easy
hablar
to speak
el sexo
the sex (of a person, on a form)
Questions & Answers about Hablar de sexo con los niños no es fácil.
Why does the sentence use the infinitive Hablar instead of a gerund like Hablando?
Usually, broad concepts in Spanish require a definite article. Why is it de sexo and not del sexo here?
While general concepts often take the definite article in Spanish, the preposition de (meaning 'about' here) frequently changes this. When expressing 'to talk about a general topic', Spanish often drops the article. Saying hablar del sexo is also grammatically correct, but omitting the article sounds very natural when treating the topic as an uncountable, broad category.
English says 'with children' without an article. Why does Spanish use los niños?
Spanish requires the definite article (el, la, los, las) when talking about all members of a group in a general, universal sense. Since the sentence refers to children in general as a demographic, rather than 'some children', los niños is mandatory.
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