When does one use "que" and "de que"?
I could give a thousand examples, but I usually can't tell when to expect a "de que" rather than a "que".
2 Answers
Hi and welcome to the forum. I found this on about.spanish.com.
The distinction between de que and que can confusing for English speakers because they are both frequently used to translate "that." See the following two pairs of examples:
El plan que quiere es caro. The plan that he wants is expensive.
El plan de que los estudiantes participen en las actividades es caro.The plan that students participate in the activities is expensive.
¿Cuál era el concepto que Karl Marx tenía sobre el poder del estado? What was the concept that Karl Marx had about the power of the state?
Es común escuchar el falso concepto de que el estado no debe de ser poderoso. It is common to hear the false concept that the state shouldn't be powerful. Structurally, all these sentences follow this pattern:
English: subject of sentence ("plan" or "concept") + dependent clause beginning with "that" Spanish: subject of sentence (plan or concepto) + dependent clause beginning with que or de que
So why the use of que in the first sentence of each pair and de que in the second? The grammatical difference between those may not be obvious, but in the first one, que translates "that" as a relative pronoun, while in the second de que translates "that" as a conjunction.
Although que can be used as a subordinate or subordinating conjunction when it follows a verb, de que normally is used as a subordinating conjunction following a noun.
So how can you tell if you're translating a sentence of this pattern to Spanish if "that" should be translated as que or de que? Almost always, if you can change "that" to "which" and the sentence still makes sense, "that" is being used as a relative pronoun and you should use que. Otherwise, use de que. See how in the following sentences either "which" or "that" makes sense in English (although "that" is preferred by many grammarians).
Examples:
My two cents:
Using the examples given by Marianne,
El plan que quiere es caro. The plan that he wants is expensive. "Que" triggers a description of the subject. It describes the plan as something "that he wants," but it doesn't say what the plan really is.
El plan de que los estudiantes participen en las actividades es caro. The plan that students participate in the activities is expensive. "De que" tells about what the subject actually is. Here it says the plan is "that the students participate in the activities."
