📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 19 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 4 · Sentences that breathe
lo que — the thing that
Module 6 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 19 of 30: When the thing you point at is not a noun but an idea. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
lo que
what (the thing that)
loh KEH
lo que quiero
what I want
loh keh KYEH-roh
lo que necesito
what I need
loh keh neh-seh-SEE-toh
necesitar
to need
neh-seh-see-TAR
te necesito
I need you
teh neh-seh-SEE-toh
la necesidad
the need
lah neh-seh-see-DAHD
soñar con
to dream of
soh-NYAR kohn
el sueño
the dream
ehl SWEH-nyoh
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 the thing you point at is not a noun but an idea, Spanish uses lo que: lo que quiero es tiempo (what I want is time), lo que necesito es dormir. Lo que means what in the sense of the thing that — never a question.
Y también · And also
Lo que is a true B1 badge, and it opens half the opinions in this module: lo que me gusta de esta ciudad es… Pair it with the verbs that take a preposition: soñar con (to dream of): lo que sueño es viajar.
Ojo · Watch out
lo que is what as in the thing that, never a question: lo que quiero. The question what is qué with its accent: ¿qué quieres? And soñar takes con: sueño con viajar, never sueño de.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with lo que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 19 in Module 6 are the written half of this page.
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.