When do you use "lo" in a sentence?

Question

For example: "Lo que haces cada dia". Why is this not phrased as, "Tu que haces cada dia"?

Answer 1

LO has many uses. It can mean it, the, you, and him.

LO QUE, EL QUE, and LA QUE while usually translated as "what" can be translated more literally as "the which," which is rarely used in English anymore...but knowing that might help you make more sense of them.

Spanish	Literal Translation	Translation
Es lo que haces cada día.	(It) is the which (you) do every day.	It's what you do every day.
Esta es la casa de la que te hablaba ayer.	This is the house of the which (I) was talking (to) you yesterday.	This is the house I was telling you about yesterday.
Este es el mar en el que se ahogó ese niño el año pasado.	This is the sea in the which that boy drowned last year.	This is the sea where that boy drowned last year.

What an awesome answer! - territurtle, Jul 13, 2011

Thank you very much. This really helps. - Scoobydoosam, Jul 15, 2011

Answer 2

Try this: Neuter Article (lo)

Thank you very much. I'm learning a lot. Gracias! - Scoobydoosam, Jul 15, 2011

Answer 3

"Lo que" can be interpreted as "what".

So "lo que haces cada día" means "What you do each day".

"Tu que haces cada día" doesn't make sense...I think you might have meant "Tú haces cada día". I see why you might think this since "haces" is the "tú" form of the verb "hacer" in the present indicative. However, "You do each day" is a bit of an incomplete thought, isn't it?

I hope I helped

Thank you very much. This is very helpful too. - Scoobydoosam, Jul 15, 2011