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Lo referencial y Lo enfático |
The 'lo referencial', the neuter article (lo) used to nominalize an adjective, adverb, participle, etc., can be tricky to translate into English, where we generally need to use a 'prop-word' such as thing, e.g. lo raro — the strange thing.1
With classifying adjectives (e.g. religioso, económico, natural, etc.), sometimes it can refer to one aspect of a thing, e.g. lo ético de la cuestión; while other times it can refer to a type of thing, e.g. no me gusta lo salado.2
-Ha sido una gran apuesta. No solo en lo deportivo, sino también en lo económico — It has been a big gamble. Not only in sporting terms, but also in economic terms
-No me gustan estos jabones artificiales. Yo prefiero lo natural — I don't like these artificial soaps. I prefer natural stuff
-Lo ético y lo legal no siempre son lo mismo — What's ethical and what's legal aren't always the same thing
As discussed previously, when using lo de+X to refer to something that is usually understood by those present, it can often be translated using issue, business, thing or what happened.
-Lo de ayer fue un gran error — What happened yesterday was a big mistake
-Lo de que tienes que irte de Granada me parece lamentable — This business about you having to leave Granada is terrible
-Lo de Bárcenas es una vergüenza — The Bárcenas affair is shameful
Lo+qualitative adjective (e.g. raro, bueno, interesante, etc.) can often be translated as the thing, the part, or with a cleft sentence with what. As discussed previously, the indicative is used when the speaker is declaring as a fact the information in the subordinate clause.
-Eso es lo bueno de todo esto — That's the good thing about all this
-Lo difícil fue terminarlo — The difficult part was finishing it
-Lo raro es que no me llamó — The strange thing is that he didn't call me
-Lo importante es que te llamaron — What's important is that they called you
→Lo importante es que te llamen — The important thing is that they call you
Note that this mustn't be confused with the 'lo enfático' , used to emphasize the extreme degree of a particular adjective/adverb.
With the emphatic lo the adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun and is usually followed by que; with the referential lo the adjective is invariable and usually followed by de.3
-Eso es lo molesto de estas situaciones — That's the annoying thing about these situations
→No entiendes lo molestas que pueden ser estas situaciones — You don't understand how annoying these situations can be
-Lo extraño de esas mujeres era su forma de vestir — The odd thing about those women was the way they dressed
→Me llamó la atención lo extrañas que eran esas mujeres — I was surprised by how odd those women were
-Lo bueno es que lo están pasando bien — The good thing is they're having fun
→Me ha contado lo bien que lo están pasando — He told me how much fun they're having [With adverb]
En La Prensa
Sin embargo, la palabra tiene especiales connotaciones en lo histórico, lo filosófico, lo social, lo ético y lo estético , más allá de su uso ... Confidencial-Jul 20, 2017
Para los amantes de lo natural y de cultivar sus propios alimentos, la organización 'Huerteamos' ha preparado este sábado, en colaboración ... ABC.es-Jul 29, 2017
Aunque destruir papeles antiguos es algo habitual en las administraciones, lo raro de este caso es que se hizo también con documentos ... El Periódico-Jul 21, 2017
Pero, dejando a un lado lo raras que son estas herramientas para maquillarte, lo mejor es que son súper útiles. El Mundo-Apr 9, 2016
In Español-Avanzado Articles
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-lo referencial y lo enfático | adjetivo-
