que + sentence

Question

que allí te explican todo

I've seen many cases like this. Why is 'que' said before the sentence? when the sentence could be said without it!

If you're fluent in English and beginning or intermediate in Spanish, please put that in your profile. - Jubilado, Oct 18, 2013

Answer 1

Que at the beginning of a statement is normally a short version of usually two or more words and the context tells us what those unspoken words are, ie:

(Espero) que te vaya bien.

¡(Ya te dije) que no me estés molestando!

Sometimes it just means that, ie: ¡Que no tienes dinero no es cierto! (For this situation it´s also common to say: ¡Eso de que no tienes dinero no es cierto!)

And used with a tilde as interjection, it means "How", ie: "¡Qué guapa te ves el día de hoy!" - 005faa61, Oct 18, 2013

Answer 2

In these expressions que + subjunctive what we have is a wish type command. In modern English we rarely use these in speech but you will see them in formal writing. The que would not translate as but would be equivalent to "may" or "let".

So think of expressions like "May it go well with you!" (I hope things work out) or "Let the will of the people be done." In Spanish these are ¡Que le vaya bien! and Que se haga el deseo de la gente. Even the expression in English "Have a nice day!" can use the que + subjunctive construction: ¡Que pase (pases) un buen día!

Answer 3

Its like a command

Answer 4

que alli te explican todo = they will explain everything to you there

Answer 5

When "que" is at the beginning of a sentence it is usually because it's an expression or phrase.

Example:

¡Que te vaya bien!

literal translation: That you go away well!

What it actually means: Have a good one!