# Qué es (lo) que sabe



## Asian

Why do we have Lo and Que in the same phrase? Is one of those redundant?


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## flljob

No. Puede ser indispensable.

Lo que me gusta es la playa.

Oí lo que nadie oyó.


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## Asian

Can you say it in English?


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## flljob

Oí lo que nadie oyó.

I heard what no one else heard.

Lo que = what.


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## Agró

Lo que= la cosa/las cosas que = what.


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## litgirl

If you want to think of it more literally in English, you could think of it as "that which."
"I heard that which no one else heard."
This also seems redundant if you don't consider the context.


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## hellonewman

i would say: Say what!?!?


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## Asian

so when to use it differently than "que"?


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## Asian

¿ Que es lo que sabe la senora Suarez que es tan importante?


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## Tonatiuh

¿Qu*é* es lo que sabe la se*ñ*ora Suárez que es tan 
importante?

Parafraseando sería: ¿Qué cosa es aquella que únicamente sabe la señora Suárez y que es muy, muy importante?
Well, this is my try in English, sorry for the mistakes:
¿What thing does Señora Suárez know that is so important? 

Correct my English


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## Asian

Why don't we say:
¿Qu*é* es que sabe la se*ñ*ora Suárez que es tan importante?


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## Tonatiuh

I know but remember you are writing in Spanish, and this is call "gramática normativa", that means the correct writing in Spanish language, lol


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## Veraz

Generally speaking:

"What?" is "¿Qué?" (or "¿cúal?")

"What" is "lo que".

What do you want? - ¿Qué quieres?

I do what I want - Hago lo que quiero.


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## Asian

so why in this sentence _¿Qué es lo que sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante? _we don't use que but lo que?When to use lo que?


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## Veraz

Asian said:


> so why in this sentence _¿Qué es lo que sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante? _we don't use que but lo que?When to use lo que?



¿Qué es lo que sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante?

I don't know if this sentence is correct or idiomatic English, but the literal translation would be:

"What is what Mrs. Suárez knows, which is so important?"


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## Asian

but why don't we use que but lo que?When to use lo que?


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## Veraz

Asian said:


> but why don't we use que but lo que?When to use lo que?



I am trying to explain it to you.

You use "qué" (with an accent) like the interrogative pronoun "what":

What are you doing? - ¿Qué haces?

I don't know what to do - No sé qué hacer.

You use "que" without an accent, to translate "who", "that" or "which" as relative pronouns:

The man who seats here. - El hombre que se sienta aquí.

You use "lo que" to translate "what" when it is not an interrogative pronoun:

Lo que me gusta es el fútbol. - What I like is football.

Haré lo que quiera. - I'll do what I want.

You use "que" as a conjunction (often, but not always translated by "that") in sentences like:

No quiero que vengas - I don't like you to come.

Parece que llueve - It seems that it is raining.


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## Asian

Hi Veraz
You say lo que is used as a relative pronoun, but what about this sentence you've just given me:
No sé qué hacer.

Should it be:
No se lo que hacer?


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## flljob

Asian said:


> Hi Veraz
> You say lo que is used as a relative pronoun, but what about this sentence you've just given me:
> No sé qué hacer.
> 
> Should it be:
> No se lo que hacer?


 
No. Tiene que ser: no sé qué hacer.


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## Veraz

Actually, you could use both in that sentence, but "no sé qué hacer" is more usual.

"Qué" is the interrogative pronoun. You use it in direct questions (What is that? - ¿Qué es eso?) or in indirect questions (I don't know what that is. - No sé qué es eso). You could rephrase this last sentence and say: "No sé lo que eso es" too, but it's not so usual.


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## Asian

Can we rephrase the original sentence, ¿ Que es lo que sabe la senora Suarez que es tan importante? 		, as:
Que sabe la senora Suarez que es tan importante?


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## Agró

Asian said:


> Can we rephrase the original sentence, ¿Qué es lo que sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante?         , as:
> ¿Qué sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante?


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## Asian

So why do they have to put  es lo que. What does it mean


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## Valtiel

Se puede, pero escribiendo _¿Qué es lo que sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante?_ se enfatiza *eso que sabe*.

Saludos.


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## Agró

¿Qué es *eso que/la cosa que* (=lo que) sabe la señora Suárez que es tan importante?


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## Asian

wow I'm confused


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## Asian

Because its direct translate of the original sentence is:

What is _what_ Mr Suarez knows that is important?
Kinda akward to me


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## flljob

Asian said:


> Because its direct translate of the original sentence is:
> 
> What is _what_ Mr Suarez knows that is important?
> Kinda akward to me


 
You have to study _cleft sentences_ in Spanish.


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## Veraz

Asian said:


> Because its direct translate of the original sentence is:
> 
> What is _what_ Mr Suarez knows that is important?
> Kinda akward to me



Please, see this thread I opened in the English Only forum: http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1468445


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## neal41

Veraz said:


> You use "lo que" to translate "what" when it is not an interrogative pronoun:
> 
> Lo que me gusta es el fútbol. - What I like is football.


 
It might be helpful to consider the following sentences:

El que sí me gusta es el que compraste ayer. (hablando de algo masculino, como un coche)

La que sí me gusta es la que compraste ayer. (hablando de algo femenino)

'lo que' indicates something indefinite, not yet specified

In English each sentence would probably begin with 'What'.


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## workingonit

"El/la que sí me gusta es el/la que compraste ayer"

I wouldn't start that with "What" in English; this way is more natural:

"The one I like is the one I bought yesterday."


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## neal41

workingonit said:


> "El/la que sí me gusta es el/la que compraste ayer"
> 
> I wouldn't start that with "What" in English; this way is more natural:
> 
> "The one I like is the one I bought yesterday."


 
In English the following 4 sentences are all possible with slight differences in meaning:

What I really like is what you bought yesterday.
What I really like is the one that you bought yesterday.
The one that I really like is what you bought yesterday.
The one that I really like is the one that you bought yesterday.

'The one that' is more specific and 'what' is more general, less specific. If we limit ourselves to 'el que' and 'lo que' I suspect that 4 sentences are also possible in Spanish where 'el que' <--> 'the one that' and 'lo que' <--> 'what'.


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