"lo" vs. "el"

Question

What are the different connotations/significances of "lo desconocido" vs. "el desconocido"? I understand that the former refers to what we might say in English as "the unknown," but what about the latter?

Welcome to the forum! I have edited your question for proper capitalization. That is very important here as this is a language learning site. - rac1, Mar 12, 2013

Answer 1

I thought that:

lo desconocido would be - that which is unknown

el desconocido would be - the unknown

Answer 2

lo desconosido is because you don´t know what you don´t know el desconosido is something that you don´t know about some thing (That something you know what it is) when you say el perro desconosido you know that the dog is what you don´t but if you say lo descanocido you don´t know about what are you tolking about.

I live in mexico so please belive me lo is neutral and el is he (Masculine) la (famenine thing)

Thanks for the explanation - gohern, Mar 12, 2013

Answer 3

"lo" is nueter form "it" and "el" is masculine.More context would help in this translation

Answer 4

LO desconocido is a more general term, it refers to "the things" that are not known EL desconocido means "the stranger" that is, an unknown person (a man) in fact, "El desconocido" = "el hombre desconocido" in Spanish you can already tell the difference between masculine and feminine by the O or A at the end. "LA desconocida" would refer to a woman, so it is not necessary to write "la mujer desconocida", we already know we're talking about a woman.

I'll give you some examples

"The stranger left the party without saying goodbye" : El desconocido se fue de la fiesta sin decir adiós(if the stranger is a man) La desconocida se fue de la fiesta sin decir adiós (if the stranger is a woman)

"No es bueno tener miedo a LO desconocido" It's not good to be afraid of the unknown

Answer 5

As far as I've managed to find out "desconocido / a " is an adjective not a noun. It could be translated as : unknown, strange, unrecogniseable and even ungratefull. I'm no expert by the way!

Answer 6

As far as I've managed to find out "desconocido / a " is an adjective not a noun. It could be translated as : unknown, strange, unrecogniseable and even ungratefull. I'm no expert by the way!

Answer 7

thanks for the responses. i know that "lo" is neuter and "el" is masculine, but here "el desconocido" does not refer to a specific thing (such as a dog), so i was guessing it might mean something close to "stranger" in english .