Lo que or qué

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering, when to use lo que and when to use qué. And yes I'm really talking about qué (with accent).

In class we had that sentence: Vamos a ver _______ dice el horóscopo para la próxima semana. According to my teacher it has to be qué but I am the opinion that it has to be lo que. Does anyone know what's correct?

And am I right using lo que in the following sentence? No sé lo que quieres comer.

But if it is used as reported speech it has to be qué, right? Pregunta qué quieres comer.

What about reported speeches like that:

Direct speech (person A to B): ¿Qué come persona C?

Indirect speech (B to C): Quiere saber qué/lo que quieres comer. Pregunta qué/lo que quieres comer.

Is qué or lo que used in these cases?

Thanks for your help!

Greetings Nils

Hej Nils. Welcomed to SD - Please complete your SD profile it helps us help you. Tak ? - ian-hill, Apr 22, 2015

Hey. Okay I did. - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

Oh I'm sorry it didn't save. Now it should have been worked. - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

Gracias - that's worth a vote. - ian-hill, Apr 22, 2015

Hi nils, your profile being filled is worth a vote from me as is the good question. Welcome. - ray76, Apr 23, 2015

Answer 1

Hi! I am a native spanish speaker. *Disclaimer: Not a spanish teacher.

In this specific case, both ways are right because of the context (Vamos a ver - let's see), it explains by itself that it is an unknown thing in the future. The expectation makes both ways work. There's just a slight difference.

Vamos a ver qué dice el horóscopo para la próxima semana. There is a clear meaning that there is something unknown. The accent explains it is either a question or an exclamation.

Vamos a ver lo que dice el horóscopo para la próxima semana. It is not necessary a question, but the - Let's see [...] next week - explains somebody is wondering about something.

If you really want to be clear on wondering about something, I would suggest to always use qué, to leave no space to mistakes. Because lo que can also be used in non wondering sentences, like

---

Lo que quiere comer. What he wants to eat.

Lo que compraron. What they bought.

Lo que dirán. What they will say.

---

Unless you add let's see, it makes it clear you are wondering

---

Vamos a ver lo que quiere comer. Let's see what he wants to eat.

Vamos a ver lo que compraron. Let's see what they bought.

Vamos a ver lo que dirán. Let's see what they bought.

---

If you use qué without Let's see, it means a direct question and that you expect an answer. The let's see - vamos a ver makes it vague, and that the answer will come later, just wondering about something.

---

I hope this helps.

:) - ian-hill, Apr 22, 2015

Thank you. That helped very much. So expressing slight differences, even in indirect speech there might be both possibilities, right? - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Apr 23, 2015

Answer 2

In class we had that sentence: Vamos a ver _______ dice el horóscopo para la próxima semana. According to my teacher it has to be qué but I am the opinion that it has to be lo que. Does anyone know what's correct?

Wow! I can see this both ways. There is a slight semantic difference between the two. I'm going to try to see if I can get it across.

"Vamos a ver qué dice el horóscopo para la proxima semana." To me it feels like "Let's see, What does next week's horoscope say?" (It has the feeling of a question)

"Vamos a ver lo que dice el horóscopo para la proxima semana." This is like " Let's see what next week's horoscope has to say."

I hope that clears up the mud somewhat (Hope I didn't make it worse.)

Buena suerte.

:) - rac1, Apr 22, 2015

Very clear answer, Daniela :) - FELIZ77, Apr 22, 2015

You made it better, not worse! :) - jim5489, Apr 23, 2015

Hi Danni I did a slight edit for you , hope you are OK with that . - ray76, Apr 23, 2015

And here is a badge for you.;) - ray76, Apr 23, 2015

Thanks for the edit. I wish I knew how to do that. ♥♥ - Daniela2041, Apr 23, 2015

Answer 3

First of al qué is used for interrogative or exclamation forms, so it cannot be used the way you have used it in your example.

Second, I am not sure what your teacher wants, as to me you could use either "lo que" or "que". Maybe that's it, if she included that "qué" with accent which would be wrong with your example.

Usually I don't explain this to new people like you, because I do not like doing nobody's homework.

ok?

Hi, Chileno may I suggest a correction? I don't like doing 'anybody's' homework - FELIZ77, Apr 22, 2015

Thanks for your answer. No I asked her afterwards and she really ment "qué" (not "que"!). And I understand you don't want to do other's homework but I can promise you I'm not asking to do my homework but because it really does interest me. - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

Felizz, correct... ;) nilskober OK, in any event with the answer I provided I gave you the clue to chose the correct one. ;) - chileno, Apr 23, 2015

Answer 4

What food have we got in the house? ¿Qué comida hay en casa?

I know what you’re thinking. Sé lo que estás pensando.

I don't know the rules for this but

Qué is usually used at the beginning of a question.

and

lo que seems to be used in the middle of a sentence.

Maybe a Spanish speaker can explain better.

Thanks. That's what I thought as well. But as you've said maybe it would be better if a native speaker could answer in addition. Just to settle the questions in a way I can show to my teacher to convince her. - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

A very good idea - I await an answer with you. - ian-hill, Apr 22, 2015

Answer 5

My Spanish isn't very good, but to me both answers make sense, depending on the intent.

First, let's open the newspaper and see what the horoscope says:

Vamos a ver que dice el horóscopo.

Oh, it says that there will be an elephant in the town square! Then, let's go there:

Vamos a ver lo que dice el horóscopo.

Makes sense?

Thanks. I understand your thinking. For me it would make sense. But one thing I have to add. When not to use "lo que" I'm sure it has to be "qué" (with accent) in this case. - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

Answer 6

Hello Nils,

Welcome to the Spanish Dict forum

I believe that your teacher is correct:

Vamos a ver qué dice el horóscopo.

sounds much better to my ears as an experienced Spanish speaker but not a native, than: lo que dice etc...

However, it is worth pointing out/important to mention that there are two words qué in Spanish ... ¿Qué.......? as an interrogative pronoun which is used to ask a question and must have an accent on the é to distinguish it from the que which is a relative pronoun to mean the word 'that'.

¿Qué decías? = What did you say/What were you saying?

que = that

but when combined with lo .. lo que = means 'that which' and the word 'that which' works as a conjunction in a sentence; connecting the two related parts of a sentence!

Direct speech: eg: No entiendo lo que ha(s) dicho.

= I don't understand what you have said.

(ie: meaning, what you have recently said using Compuesto Perfecto de indicativo)

Indirect speech: o ¡No entendio lo que diciste, anoche!

= She didn't understand what you said last night!

(Using pretérito simple de indicativo or simple past for actions that happened some time ago)

I hope this helps

Thanks. I know there is a different between que and qué. Thats no problem for me to tell the different. And what would you use in case of indirect speech as I asked above? - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015

Thanks for your addition. But I have to correct you. Just changing the tenses is not the different between direct and indirect speech. See the sentences I've added to my post. - nilskober, Apr 22, 2015