when do you use lo que
when do you use lo que
2 Answers
Hello jstowel,
I can give you some examples more easily than I could explain the grammatical reasons for the use of lo que and hopefully you will start to see (understand) its use.
No entiendo lo que dices = I don't understand what you are saying.
(literally: lo que = that which) The English only translate the word which and the meaning can vary considerably (to a great extent) according to the context!
Lo que más me gusta fue la música = What I liked most was the music.
En lo que se refiere a la televisión = As far as television is concerned.
Lo que es tener la consciencia tranquila = What it is (more literal) / It;'s wonderful.(idiomatic).. to have a clear conscience
The examples given above are just a few examples of how the Spanish use lo que in relative sentences. Hopefully others here can provide other examples which will make the situation clearer to you.
I am sure that you will notice that the meaning can change a lot according to the context and there is no " one size fits all approach" (which means, one answer cannot solve everything in English!
Let's wait for the grammarians (grammar experts) here, to explain the rules lol
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Thank you!
FELIZ77 pretty much covered it all. Here's one other example, "Lo" being a direct object pronoun, and the object being, something that was said.
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"Pues, eso es lo que dijo él" "well, that's what he said" -assuming something has already been said or a statement had been made by "él" ...and we're talking about that assumed thing.
With just "que dijo él" it's incomplete unless it's a question "¿qué dijo él?"
