Spanish has a set of subjunctive expressions that learners encounter again and again in conversation — pase lo que pase, sea quien sea, que yo sepa, cueste lo que cueste — and that don't seem to fit any of the standard subjunctive rules. There's no obvious trigger, no embedded verb of wishing, no para que. The subjunctive is just there, baked into the expression.
These are lexicalized formulas. They started life as productive subjunctive constructions centuries ago and have congealed into fixed phrases — speakers learn them as units, not as compositional grammar. For a learner, the practical consequence is that you do not improvise on the pattern; you memorize the formula and use it as a block.
This page collects the most important ones — the formulas a native speaker of Peninsular Spanish uses several times a week — and shows how to slot them into real sentences.
Why the subjunctive is "stuck" there
In origin, almost every one of these formulas is a compressed concessive: pase lo que pase = aunque pase lo que pase ("whatever may happen, even if what happens is X"). The concessive aunque and the duplicated structure both license the subjunctive. Over time the aunque dropped away and the duplicated subjunctive became the whole expression — a kind of grammatical residue.
Understanding this origin is useful: it tells you why the subjunctive is there (concessive resilience — "no matter what") and why you can't swap in the indicative without changing meaning. But for daily use, treat these as fixed.
The "X lo que X" family — concessive duplications
The most productive shape is the duplicated X lo que X: verb + lo que + same verb in subjunctive. Both verbs are subjunctive, and the pattern means "whatever (you/they/it) X."
| Expression | Literal sense | Functional translation |
|---|---|---|
| pase lo que pase | let happen what happens | whatever happens, come what may |
| diga lo que diga | let him say what he says | whatever he/she says |
| digan lo que digan | let them say what they say | whatever people say |
| haga lo que haga | let him/her do what he/she does | whatever he/she does |
| cueste lo que cueste | let it cost what it costs | whatever it costs, at all costs |
| venga lo que venga | let come what comes | whatever may come |
| piense lo que piense | let him think what he thinks | whatever he thinks |
| quieras lo que quieras | (rare; usually "quieras o no quieras") | whether you want it or not |
Pase lo que pase, mañana cojo el tren a Madrid.
Whatever happens, I'm taking the train to Madrid tomorrow.
Voy a sacarme el carnet de conducir, cueste lo que cueste.
I'm going to get my driving licence, whatever it takes.
Digan lo que digan los políticos, la gente está harta.
Whatever the politicians say, people are fed up.
Mi hermana es muy testaruda — haga lo que haga, siempre tiene la última palabra.
My sister is very stubborn — whatever she does, she always has the last word.
How to vary the formula
You can change the person of the duplicated verb, but you cannot change the structure or insert other words. Both verbs must match in person and number:
Pienses lo que pienses, no voy a cambiar de opinión.
Whatever you think, I'm not going to change my mind.
Hicieran lo que hicieran, el jefe nunca estaba contento.
Whatever they did, the boss was never happy. (imperfect subjunctive — past frame)
The past-frame version uses the imperfect subjunctive in both slots — hiciera lo que hiciera, pasara lo que pasara. It's the same formula, just shifted into the past by sequence of tenses.
The "sea quien/cuando/donde/como sea" family — interrogative + sea
A second family uses an interrogative word (quien, cuando, donde, como, cual) flanked by sea(n). The pattern means "no matter who/when/where/how/which."
| Expression | Translation |
|---|---|
| sea quien sea | whoever it is / no matter who |
| sea cuando sea | whenever it is / no matter when |
| sea donde sea | wherever it is / no matter where |
| sea como sea | however it is / one way or another |
| sea cual sea | whatever it is (referring to a thing) |
| sean quienes sean | whoever they are (plural) |
| sean cuales sean | whatever they are (plural) |
Tengo que entregar el trabajo mañana, sea como sea.
I have to hand in the work tomorrow, one way or another.
Sea quien sea el que llame a la puerta, no abras.
Whoever it is that knocks at the door, don't open it.
Sea cual sea tu decisión, te apoyaremos.
Whatever your decision is, we'll support you.
Sean cuales sean las consecuencias, hay que decir la verdad.
Whatever the consequences may be, the truth has to be told.
The "que yo sepa" family — speaker-hedged claims
A third family uses que yo + subjunctive-of-verb-of-knowing, and it serves as an epistemic hedge: "as far as I know," "to the best of my knowledge."
| Expression | Translation |
|---|---|
| que yo sepa | as far as I know |
| que yo recuerde | as far as I remember |
| que nosotros sepamos | as far as we know |
| que él sepa | as far as he knows |
| que yo vea | as far as I can see |
No, que yo sepa, Marta no ha llegado todavía.
No, as far as I know, Marta hasn't arrived yet.
Que yo recuerde, nunca habíamos comido aquí.
As far as I remember, we'd never eaten here before.
El museo está cerrado los lunes, que yo sepa.
The museum is closed on Mondays, as far as I know.
These hedges are register-neutral — perfectly natural in conversation, common in informal writing, and acceptable in formal prose too.
The "que + subjunctive" optative — direct wish
A standalone que + present subjunctive expresses a wish or instruction directly, without an introductory verb. Origin: ellipsis of deseo que / espero que / quiero que.
¡Que tengas un buen día!
Have a good day!
Que sepas que no estoy enfadada contigo.
Just so you know, I'm not angry with you.
Que aproveche.
Enjoy your meal. (literally: may it benefit you)
Que descanses.
Sleep well. / Get some rest.
Que te mejores pronto.
Get well soon.
The que sepas variant is the most argumentatively useful: it flags a piece of information the speaker wants to make sure the listener doesn't miss — often with a slight edge.
Que sepas que voy a contarle todo a mamá.
Just so you know, I'm going to tell mum everything.
Other high-frequency frozen expressions
A handful of standalone formulas don't fit any of the families above but are extremely common in Peninsular Spanish:
| Expression | Translation | Register |
|---|---|---|
| o sea | that is, in other words, I mean | (informal — extremely common) |
| quizá(s) / tal vez + subj. | perhaps | (neutral) |
| dios mediante | God willing | (slightly archaic/formal) |
| así sea | so be it, amen | (formal, religious) |
| en paz descanse | may he/she rest in peace | (formal) |
| así me muera | I swear (literally: may I die thus) | (informal, emphatic) |
| ni que decir tiene | needless to say | (formal) |
| donde tú quieras | wherever you want | (informal, neutral) |
| como tú digas | whatever you say, as you wish | (informal) |
Tengo que coger el coche, o sea, no puedo beber.
I have to drive, I mean, I can't drink.
Mi abuelo, que en paz descanse, decía siempre lo mismo.
My grandfather, may he rest in peace, always said the same thing.
Comemos donde tú quieras.
We'll eat wherever you want.
"Como tú digas" vs. "como dices"
A subtle but important contrast appears between como tú digas (subjunctive — concessive) and como tú dices (indicative — reporting):
Vale, como tú digas. Lo hacemos a tu manera.
OK, whatever you say. We'll do it your way. (conceding to your preference)
Como tú dices, Madrid está cambiando mucho.
As you say, Madrid is changing a lot. (echoing your statement)
The first concedes; the second cites. Same verb, different mood, different meaning. The contrast holds across the whole family: donde tú quieras (concessive — wherever) vs. donde tú quieres (reporting — at the place you (have already said you) want).
Sequence-of-tenses inside the formulas
When the surrounding sentence is in the past, the imperative-style formulas shift to imperfect subjunctive:
| Present frame | Past frame | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| pase lo que pase | pasara lo que pasara / pasase lo que pasase | whatever happened |
| diga lo que diga | dijera lo que dijera | whatever he said |
| sea como sea | fuera como fuera / fuese como fuese | however it was |
| cueste lo que cueste | costara lo que costara | whatever it cost |
| que yo sepa | que yo supiera | as far as I knew |
Decidí que iba a terminar la carrera, costara lo que costara.
I decided I was going to finish my degree, whatever it cost.
Pasara lo que pasara, sabía que mis padres me apoyarían.
Whatever happened, I knew my parents would support me.
Comparison with English
English handles these with -ever compounds: whatever, whoever, whenever, wherever, however. The grammar is entirely different — English uses a single subordinating word that already carries the concessive meaning, while Spanish uses a duplicated subjunctive that signals concession through the doubled structure.
There is no English equivalent of the duplicated shape — digan lo que digan — that captures the same defiant register. The closest is "say what they will" or "let them say what they want," both of which sound elevated in modern English. In Spanish, the duplicated form is neutral: a teenager will use pase lo que pase without irony.
Comparison with Latin American Spanish
These formulas exist throughout the Spanish-speaking world, with two Peninsular nuances:
- Sea como sea is heard everywhere but is especially frequent in Peninsular speech.
- Que sepas (with that slight argumentative edge) is more common in Spain than in Latin America, where para que sepas is sometimes preferred.
- The -se form (pasase lo que pasase) is essentially Peninsular-only in modern speech; Latin American speakers overwhelmingly use the -ra form in the past-frame versions of the duplicated formulas.
Common Mistakes
❌ Pasa lo que pasa, voy a ir al concierto.
Incorrect — the duplicated formula requires subjunctive in both slots.
✅ Pase lo que pase, voy a ir al concierto.
Whatever happens, I'm going to the concert.
❌ Sea quien es, no abras la puerta.
Inconsistent moods — both verbs in 'sea quien sea' must be subjunctive.
✅ Sea quien sea, no abras la puerta.
Whoever it is, don't open the door.
❌ Que yo sé, no hay reunión mañana.
Wrong mood — 'que yo sepa' is a fixed subjunctive hedge.
✅ Que yo sepa, no hay reunión mañana.
As far as I know, there's no meeting tomorrow.
❌ Pasara lo que pase, no me importa.
Inconsistent tenses — both verbs in the duplicated formula must share the same tense.
✅ Pase lo que pase, no me importa. / Pasara lo que pasara, no me importaba.
Whatever happens, I don't care. / Whatever happened, I didn't care.
❌ Cueste lo cueste, voy a terminarlo.
Missing 'que' — the formula is V + lo que + V, not V + lo + V.
✅ Cueste lo que cueste, voy a terminarlo.
Whatever it takes, I'm going to finish it.
Key Takeaways
- These formulas are frozen — memorize them as single chunks, not as compositional grammar.
- The duplicated X lo que X shape is the most productive: match person and tense across both slots.
- Sea como sea and cueste lo que cueste are the two highest-yield phrases for active production at B2.
- Que yo sepa is the standard epistemic hedge — use it whenever you'd say "as far as I know."
- Past-frame versions shift both verbs into imperfect subjunctive in lock-step.
- The semantic core across the whole set is concessive defiance: "no matter what / who / how — my position stands."
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Disparadores del subjuntivo: panoramaB1 — A master inventory of every grammatical trigger that forces the present subjunctive in peninsular Spanish — wishes, emotions, doubt, impersonal judgments, time, purpose, condition and more.
- Ojalá + subjuntivoB1 — Ojalá is a wish-particle of Arabic origin that always triggers the subjunctive. The tense you pair it with (present, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect) signals how realistic, recent or counterfactual the wish is — from a hopeful 'hopefully' to a deep regret.
- Subjuntivo duplicado: sea lo que sea, vaya donde vayaB2 — The verb-relative-verb pattern (sea lo que sea, pase lo que pase, vaya donde vaya) is one of Spanish's most distinctive idiomatic structures — a kind of generalised concession that has no clean English equivalent.
- Subjuntivo coordinado: quiero que vengas y que traigas el libroC1 — When two or more subordinate clauses depend on a single trigger, Spanish coordinates them with 'y que', 'o que', 'ni que' — and the mood must hold consistently across the whole coordinated structure.
- Subjuntivo de concesión: aunque + subjuntivoB2 — Aunque takes subjunctive when the speaker treats the concession as hypothetical, unknown, or already-known-but-de-emphasised, and indicative when presenting it as a verified fact. Por más que, por mucho que and a pesar de que follow related patterns.
- Conectores correlativos: 'tanto X como Y'B2 — Spanish correlative conjunctions come in pairs: 'tanto X como Y' (both… and), 'ni X ni Y' (neither… nor), 'o X o Y' (either… or), 'no solo X sino también Y' (not only… but also), plus the literary 'ya X ya Y' and 'bien X bien Y'. Heavy weight in formal writing.