📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 25 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 5 · Relatar y conectar
Lo que, lo cual, cuanto
Module 11 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 25 of 30: When there is no noun to point at. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
lo que me interesa
what interests me
loh keh meh een-teh-REH-sah
lo que quiero
what I want
loh keh KYEH-roh
lo que necesito
what I need
loh keh neh-seh-SEE-toh
lo que sé
what I know
loh keh SEH
lo esencial
the essential point
loh eh-sehn-SYAHL
interesar
to interest
een-teh-reh-SAR
la cosa
the thing
lah KOH-sah
cuanto
all that (formal relative)
KWAHN-toh
tú necesitas más tiempo
you need more time
too neh-seh-SEE-tahs mahs TYEHM-poh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
When there is no noun to point at, the relative goes neutral: lo que me interesa (what interests me), lo que quiero (what I want), lo que necesito (what I need). Lo que sé (what I know) is the shape you will use most.
Y también · And also
Lo que opens a clause; lo cual looks back at one. Cuanto is the culto relative that folds everything in: cuanto sé (all that I know), cuanto necesito — a form you will read in essays and rarely need to write.
Ojo · Watch out
lo que looks forward (lo que quiero es…), lo cual looks back (…, lo cual me sorprende). cuanto as a relative means all that — do not confuse it with the question word cuánto.
necesitar, presente — the table
yo necesito · tú necesitas · él/ella/usted necesita · nosotros necesitamos · ustedes necesitan · ellos/ellas necesitan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with lo que me interesa.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out necesitar, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.