Breakdown of Ella escribe un poema anónimo sin que sus amigos lo sepan.
ella
she
el amigo
the male friend
un
a, an (masculine)
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
escribir
to write
saber
to know (facts) / to hear from (someone)
que
that / than
lo
it / him (direct object)
sin
without
el poema
the poem
anónimo
anonymous
Questions & Answers about Ella escribe un poema anónimo sin que sus amigos lo sepan.
Why do we use sin que here instead of just sin?
We use sin que because the person performing the first action is different from the person in the second action. Here, she (ella) writes the poem, but her friends (sus amigos) are the ones who do not know. If the subject were the same, for example, "She writes without knowing," you would just use sin plus the infinitive: Ella escribe sin saber.
Why is the verb saber in the subjunctive form (sepan) instead of the regular present tense (saben)?
The phrase sin que always forces the following verb into the subjunctive mood. This is because it introduces an event that is an absence of action or is hypothetical—in this case, her friends knowing about the poem. Therefore, the regular present tense saben becomes the subjunctive sepan.
Does the lo in lo sepan refer specifically to the poem?
It can refer to the masculine noun poema, but it is more likely acting as a neuter pronoun referring to the entire situation (the fact that she is writing it). In English, we often just say "without her friends knowing," but in Spanish, verbs like saber usually require a direct object in this context, so we add lo to mean "knowing it."
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