Breakdown of Se me rompió el producto nuevo, lo que es terrible.
ser
to be
nuevo
new
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
Questions & Answers about Se me rompió el producto nuevo, lo que es terrible.
Why do we use lo que here instead of just que for "which"?
In Spanish, que usually refers back to a specific noun. But here, "which" doesn't refer to the product itself, it refers to the entire situation of the product breaking. When referring to a whole abstract idea or a complete preceding clause, we use the neuter relative pronoun lo que.
Why does the sentence use Se me rompió instead of just saying Rompí?
Using Se me rompió takes the direct blame away from the speaker. It translates more like "The product broke itself to me." This is often called the "accidental se" construction, and it is the most natural way in Spanish to say you broke, dropped, or lost something by accident.
Is el producto nuevo the direct object since it comes after the verb?
Why do we use es terrible instead of está terrible?