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Spanish (Latin America)

Folklore is full of magic, monsters, and moral lessons. When talking about these broad, abstract concepts—like "the supernatural" or "the absurd"—Spanish uses a special tool: the neuter article **lo**.

### The neuter article "lo"

In Spanish, nouns are always either masculine or feminine. However, there is a neuter article, **lo**, which is used to turn an adjective into an abstract noun. To do this, simply use the formula **lo + [masculine singular adjective]**.

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### Translating "lo + adjective"

Because English doesn't have an exact equivalent for this structure, we rely on context to translate it naturally. You will often translate **lo + adjective** as "the [adjective] thing," "the [adjective] part," or "what is [adjective]."

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### Combining abstract concepts

You can easily list or combine these abstract concepts to describe the complex themes found in traditional myths and legends.

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The neuter article (lo)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and 'to be' (el, la, soy)

Masculine and feminine pairs (el hermano, la hermana)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

To have (tener)

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Question	Answer
supernatural	sobrenatural
the folklore	el folclore
The supernatural is very popular in folklore.	Lo sobrenatural es muy popular en el folclore.
mysterious	misterioso
the myth	el mito
Do you like the mysterious part of this ancient myth?	¿Te gusta lo misterioso de este antiguo mito?
absurd	absurdo
the legend	la leyenda
The absurd is normal in that old legend.	Lo absurdo es normal en esa vieja leyenda.
evil	malvado
the hero	el héroe
What is evil scares us, even though the hero always wins.	Lo malvado nos asusta, aunque el héroe siempre gana.
wise	sabio
the moral	la moraleja
The wise part of the moral helps us live better.	Lo sabio de la moraleja nos ayuda a vivir mejor.
The absurd and incredible part of the myth is fun.	Lo absurdo e increíble del mito es divertido.
Folklore has stories of a mysterious forest.	El folclore tiene historias de un bosque misterioso.
Why does folklore mix the absurd and the magical?	¿Por qué el folclore mezcla lo absurdo y lo mágico?
The myths say that dragons are evil.	Los mitos dicen que los dragones son malvados.
The legend says that the hero is a genie!	¡La leyenda dice que el héroe es un genio!
The wise thing is to understand the moral.	Lo sabio es entender la moraleja.
The supernatural is mysterious in the legend.	Lo sobrenatural es misterioso en la leyenda.