Lo importante es lo que aprendes de tus apuntes, no lo que olvidas.

The important thing is what you learn from your notes, not what you forget.

Breakdown of Lo importante es lo que aprendes de tus apuntes, no lo que olvidas.

• ser: to be
• tú: you
• aprender: to learn
• de: from

Questions & Answers about Lo importante es lo que aprendes de tus apuntes, no lo que olvidas.

Why does it say lo importante instead of something like la cosa importante?

Spanish often uses lo + adjective to mean “the [adjective] thing/part/aspect” in a general, abstract way. So lo importante = “the important thing.” It’s more natural and concise than la cosa importante here.

• Other examples: lo bueno, lo malo, lo necesario, lo más importante.
• Note: this lo is neuter; it doesn’t have a plural. You can’t say los importante. To make it plural, you’d say something like las cosas importantes.

All those lo’s—are they the same “lo” as the direct object pronoun (“him/it”)?

No. In this sentence, each lo is the neuter article:

• Lo importante = “the important thing”
• lo que = “that which/what”
• no lo que = “not that which/what”

This neuter lo is different from the masculine direct object pronoun lo (“him/it” in Lo vi). They look the same but function differently.

What exactly does lo que mean, and how is it different from que and qué?