Dazed and confused with "lo que"???

Question

Any advice on how best to use the construction "lo que" ?

SOMETIMES, I can translate it as "that which" and it works very well, but there are OTHER instances where "that which" is clearly not the correct translation. How else can I understand the beauty of "lo que" ?

Nice thread, Milo - 00494d19, Sep 23, 2009

Answer 1

Lo que soy what I am . . . There is a song with that title or something close to it that translates to what I am is real or "lo que soy es real . . . "

Answer 2

I will share what I understand to be true regarding this:

Lo que, el que, la que, los que, las que, lo cual, que and quien(es) can all be used as relative pronouns.

Lo que, lo cual - what, which

que - who, whom, which, that

quien(es) - who, whom

el que, la que, los que, las que - whom, which, that

It might help to understand that in English whom, which and that are often not explicitly stated in the sentence.

For example:

The book (that, which) you gave me was wonderful - El libro lo que me diste es maravilloso.

The girl, whom he did not know, helped him with his homework - La chica, a la que no conocía, le ayudó con la tarea.

Everything (that) he says is foolish - Todo lo que dice es tonto (tonteria)

In addition, when referring back to a whole idea these can take on a slightly different meaning:

Lo que, lo cual - what or which

Don't pay attention to what she did - No hagas caso de lo que ha hecho.

¿Has entendido lo que he dicho? - Did you understand what I said?

Omg! This is *extremely* helpful!, Especially the last example with the book. Gracias x 1,000. - miloszdom, Sep 23, 2009

Don't feel bad. I think that, along with the subjunctive and the use of prepositions, relative clauses tend to cause me the most confusion as to when and how to use them :-) - Izanoni1, Sep 23, 2009

Answer 3

Thanks for the song (rola?) tip ocbizlaw. I'll have to look that up on YouTube. I'm starting to see how "lo que" can just as frequently be translated as simply "what" in several different contexts.

I really like the way "lo que" functions. It is a very remarkable relative pronoun.

(Does that sound geeky? lo siento, pero es verdad!)

Answer 4

Hola y gracias Heidita.

Here is one example where "that which" cannot be the correct translation. Perhaps my problem is that i am trying to force a "two word for two word" translation of this phrase that should be taken as a single unit?

Here is the troublesome example (troublesome for ME of course...)

Lo que soy.

To say "that which i am" seems forced or a little odd. Is there another way to understand that brief sentence?

Adios!

Answer 5

Hi Nilo, if you give us examples of what you mean we will be of better help