El admirador envía el regalo sin que ella lo sepa.
The admirer sends the gift without her knowing it.
Breakdown of El admirador envía el regalo sin que ella lo sepa.
ella
she
el regalo
the gift
saber
to know (facts) / to hear from (someone)
que
that / than
enviar
to send
lo
it / him (direct object)
sin
without
el admirador
admirer
Questions & Answers about El admirador envía el regalo sin que ella lo sepa.
Why do we use sin que and the subjunctive sepa here instead of just sin saber?
Because there are two different subjects in the sentence. The admirer (el admirador) is doing the sending, but she (ella) is the one doing the knowing. When the subject changes after 'without', Spanish uses sin que followed by the subjunctive. If the admirer sent the gift without knowing it himself, it would be sin saberlo using the infinitive.
Why is there a lo before sepa?
Why does the verb saber change to sepa?
sepa is the present subjunctive form of saber (to know). saber is highly irregular in the subjunctive. Instead of borrowing a stem from its present tense "yo" form (which is sé), it changes entirely to use the sep- stem for all of its subjunctive forms.
Is the word ella absolutely necessary, or could we just say sin que lo sepa?
You can drop ella if it is already obvious from the conversation who is receiving the gift. However, because the subjunctive form sepa can mean "he knows", "she knows", or "you (formal) know", adding ella avoids any confusion about exactly who is in the dark.
Is the word ella absolutely necessary, or could we just say sin que lo sepa?
You can drop ella if it is already obvious from the conversation who is receiving the gift. However, because the subjunctive form sepa can mean "he knows", "she knows", or "you (formal) know", adding ella avoids any confusion about exactly who is in the dark.
Learn El admirador envía el regalo sin que ella lo sepa and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free