Please give me more example's of how Que can express the word let...

Question

Hello,

In a few forum discussions (including the last one)I have seen the word que used to express the word let I have studied this and asked spanish friends to explain this to me, but I am still having a hard time with this one. Can someone please give me a few more examples?

thank you

Answer 1

Wow this forum is pretty dead without Lazarus. My advice Tamara wait until Lazarus replies because both Qfreed and Robert's views on this differ on this one. See thier replies below.

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/show/9645/

.....and remember Sanity is not statistical.

Yes it is... he is a big advice giver...

Answer 2

In a few forum discussions (including the last one)I have seen the word que used to express the word let I have studied this and asked spanish friends to explain this to me, but I am still having a hard time with this one. Can someone please give me a few more examples?

Express the word "let..."!? I presume you refer to these examples:

In this indirect command usage would you say that the Que is not translated or that it means Let?

Que no escriba ella.

Don't let her write.

Que haga él eso.

Let him do that.

Que hable él.

Let him speak.

I think that rather than being an special use of "que", it is simply about understanding subjunctive and how it is interpreted in (apparent) isolation, since all the above sentences are in subjunctive mood, and subjunctive mood is used in subordinate clauses. So, if they are meant to be subordinates, where are are their main sentences? The answer is here:

Es mejor que no escriba ella.
Es mejor que haga él eso.
Es mejor que hable él.

I wrote "Es mejor", but it could had been many other things:

Pídele que no escriba ella.
Es esencial que no escriba ella.
Asegúrate de que no escriba ella.

But the idea is the same, more or less: you are not declaring that she is writing, but making an exhortation (i.e. strongly trying to persuade or encourage someone), since all the original sentences are said with emphasis or a certain emotional intention. Normally, it is the context that determines what we mean, since the main sentence is missing:

Jose: ¡Cállate!
Luis: (continues talking)
Jose: ¡Que te calles!

Here Jose probably means something like "¡Te he dicho que te calles!". Again, it is an exhortation, and that "que" is nothing but an old simple conjunction that introduces subordinate clauses.

The sentence "Que no escriba" could be interpreted in many ways depending on the context and tone (if you can hear it):

Let's hope she doesn't write (Espero que no escriba)
Don't let her write (Asegúrate de que no escriba)

Jose: ¿Tú que crees que es más probable? ¿Que escriba, o que no escriba?
Luis: que no escriba.

All these questions about the use of "que" or the subjunctive are a bit pointless without a context. Always provide one!

Answer 3

I might not be a Spanish teacher but I am a Spanish native.

Answer 4

Wow this forum is pretty dead without Lazarus. My advice Tamara wait until Lazarus replies because both Qfreed and Robert's views on this differ on this one. See thier replies below.

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/show/9645/

.....and remember Sanity is not statistical.