Help with the title of an article: "Lo que dure el amor"

Question

Hey everyone!

First time making a post here, but this site is great, so I'm hoping you all could help me out a little. I'm in a Spanish class at the university here, and one of the articles from our textbook we had to read was called, "Lo que dure el amor" and I'm not totally sure of what the title is trying to say. I know "lo que" can be like "what" or "that which" or things like that, but the way it's written is confusing me (relative pronouns and word order trip me up still).

I was thinking something like, "The love which lasts", but I wasn't sure if that was correct. Also, could someone explain why "durar" takes the subjunctive here, instead of indicative?

Thanks in advance!

We are so glad you posted your question. Would you please actually put your gender, and proficiency in English and Spanish even though its all apparent in your post. - Jubilado, Apr 15, 2016

Sorry about that! I thought I'd saved everything in my profile, but it should be all good now. :) - Aricakes, Apr 15, 2016

Welcome to SD - your profile gets you a vote from me. :) - ian-hill, Apr 15, 2016

I finally made it back to give you a vote for telling us about yourself in your profile. Consider playing some of the games if you haven't already. Word of the Day gives you an opportunity to be creative, and has a native speaker to correct our mistakes. - Jubilado, Apr 15, 2016

A vote from me as well. - Daniela2041, Apr 16, 2016

A vote from me for the profile , thanks mate. - ray76, Apr 16, 2016

Answer 1

I looked up the article, and after giving it a quick read, it seems to be discussing how long things last, and the conclusion is that nothing is permanent and that Love will last so long as love may last. This is one of those cases where a word-for-word translation won't work.

Here's a link to the article.

Lo que dure el amor

Thanks so much for the explanation, Daniela! I understood a majority of the article itself, but that was confusing me a lot. I think I understand now why you'd use subjunctive. Thanks again. - Aricakes, Apr 15, 2016

Hola Dani - you get a vote from me xx - ian-hill, Apr 15, 2016

And me.:) - rac1, Apr 15, 2016

And me also, very good! - 00cc0117, Apr 15, 2016

Almost a day late, but not a vote short! - Jubilado, Apr 15, 2016

And a badge from me stranger . - ray76, Apr 16, 2016

Who's the stranger here? :) - Daniela2041, Apr 16, 2016