Emphasizing with Lo que
When organizing a neighborhood block party, you often need to emphasize exactly what is needed or what must happen. In Spanish, you can do this using a "pseudo-cleft" sentence—a structure that highlights a specific object or action using lo que ("what" or "the thing that").
To build this structure, start with lo que, followed by a clause, the verb ser (usually es or era), and finally the thing or event you want to emphasize.
| What we need is a big canopy for the street. | Lo que necesitamos es un toldo grande para la calle. |
| What you must do is delegate the canopy rental. | Lo que debes hacer es delegar el alquiler del toldo. |
Notice that lo que can emphasize both physical objects (like a canopy) and actions (like delegating). You can use it in different tenses as well, such as the past imperfect.
| What I was looking for was the city hall office. | Lo que estaba buscando era la oficina de la alcaldía. |
Emphasizing with Lo + Adjective
If you want to emphasize an abstract quality rather than a specific object, you can combine lo with a masculine singular adjective. This translates to "the [adjective] thing".
- lo importante (the important thing)
- lo mejor (the best thing)
| The important thing is to delegate the entertainment to the neighbors. | Lo importante es delegar el entretenimiento a los vecinos. |
| The best thing is serving the appetizers under the garlands. | Lo mejor es servir los aperitivos debajo de las guirnaldas. |
Changing the Order of Lo que
You are not restricted to putting lo que at the beginning of the sentence. You can flip the structure to state the emphasized subject or action first, followed by es lo que or son lo que.
| The garlands are what decorates our block. | Las guirnaldas son lo que decora nuestra cuadra. |
| Grilling the vegetables is what I recommend to you for dinner. | Asar las verduras es lo que te recomiendo para la cena. |
You can also use lo que at the end of a sentence to refer back to the entire previous idea, often translating to "which is what".
| There will be a cooler and a keg, which is what is missing. | Habrá una hielera y un barril, que es lo que falta. |