Why is "que" sporadically thrown into sentence sometimes?

Question

I was reading a few sentences today of a book as a warm up, and "que" was in the stra vest of places.

Example: 1. Y, lo que es peor aún, ((que)) no fueron tan buenos. 2. Es ((que))... No sé... Es un lío. 3. Para mí, siempre llegarás tarde; porque siempre querré ((que)) llegues antes.

My translations: 1. And, what's even worse, they weren't that/so good. 2. It's... I don't know... It's a mess. 3. For me, you'll always be late; because I'll always want you to come before.

There're more examples, but I just can't think of or find them right now. Thanks in advance!

I trust you're also familiar with "tener que" where the "que" forms part of a single idea of necessity. - Jubilado, Dec 31, 2015

Answer 1

The word que can be translated into English as what or that, but sometimes it isn't translated at all and while it is necessary as a part of Spanish, the English translation may not need a word for it.

When you see es que at the beginning of a phrase it has the meaning of "It's just that..." The expression in English "I want (you) to do (something) is Quiero que (followed by subjunctive) Your example uses the first person singular preterite form of querer que

If you are reading a Spanish language source you can usually rest assured that que is necessary not sporadic. And as you become more familiar with the language it will make better sense because you'll understand more without translating.

Absolutely. - Daniela2041, Dec 31, 2015

Thank you, Dani, my confidence level just rose! - Jubilado, Dec 31, 2015

I agree, there is nothing sporatic about it - unlike English when the word "like" is sporatically inserted for no good reason - 005faa61, Dec 31, 2015

Touché, Julian! - Jubilado, Dec 31, 2015

Like right on man. - ray76, Dec 31, 2015

He needs to translate literally word by word from Spanish to English. Let the mind figure this up. Who knows, you might end up figuring up the subjunctive in English! ;) - chileno, Dec 31, 2015

Julian, when English is spoken well by educated people you shouldn't hear the word 'like' used arbitrarily .People use it in informal, colloquial speech on the streets and particularly in some northern regions In England .I appreciate that this can cause - FELIZ77, Dec 31, 2015

...confusion to people learning English, I have no doubt that other countries have colloquial speech patterns that can also leave foreigners who are learning their language feeling confused! ;) - FELIZ77, Dec 31, 2015

I didn't mean sporadically. Couldn't think of a better word. ¡Lo siento! And not all Anglos say "like" in every sentence; that's mainly from less educated people with small vocabularies. - ryanespana, Jan 1, 2016

Jubilado, this was like indubitably helpful to me, thanks. :D - jrschenk, Jan 1, 2016

Answer 2

If there can be a "that" in an English sentence never leave it out in the Spanish translation.

The house (that) I live in is on a hill. = The house I live in is on a hill.

This one can't be left out in English either.

She hasn’t written to me – not that she ever said she would.

No me ha escrito, aunque no es que dijera que lo iba a hacer.

Great point, Ian :) - FELIZ77, Dec 31, 2015

Good to know! Thanks. :) - jrschenk, Jan 1, 2016

Answer 3

ryanespana:

Example:

1. Y, lo que es peor aún, ((es/fue que)) no fueron tan buenos.

2. Es ((que))... No sé... Es un lío.

3. Para mí, siempre llegarás tarde; porque siempre querré ((que)) llegues antes.

My translations:

1. And, what's even worse, (is/was that) they weren't that/so good.

2. It's (that)... I don't know... It's a mess.

3. For me, you'll always be late; because I'll always want (that) you come early.

Would these make sense to you?

:) - jrschenk, Jan 1, 2016

Answer 4

@everyone, I didn't mean sporadic! I just couldn't think of a better word lol. Thanks for all the answers.

Thanks for your post and clarification! Maybe you meant ubiquitous? - Jubilado, Dec 31, 2015

"Randomly" maybe? - AnnRon, Dec 31, 2015

Ryan, I'm glad you asked, as I learned so much reading all the responses. I think it was clear that you didn't really believe that they were sporadic or you wouldn't have asked for help. Have a wonderful new year. :D - jrschenk, Jan 1, 2016

Answer 5

Para mí, siempre llegarás tarde; porque siempre querré ((que)) llegues antes.

My translation of this would be: For me you will always seem to be late arriving because I shall always wish that you would ( were to) come earlier.

( Then you see what the ' que ' is doing', also the subjunctive can sometimes be translated as ' would// or ' might', )'. You can yuse the subjunctive, were to, but it sounds a little odd, would , would indeed sound more natural here. I think anyway, for what it is worth.