Breakdown of El autor cambió de género literario, lo que nos sorprendió.
de
from / of
que
that / than
nos
to us
sorprender
to surprise
el autor
author
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
cambiar
to change
literario
literary
el género
the genre
Questions & Answers about El autor cambió de género literario, lo que nos sorprendió.
Why do we use lo que here instead of just que?
A simple que usually refers back to a specific noun. When you need to refer back to a whole situation or idea, like the entire fact that the author changed genres, you use a neuter relative pronoun like lo que. It represents the English "which" when it means "and this fact".
Could I use lo cual instead of lo que in this sentence?
Yes, you can! Both lo que and lo cual work perfectly here to refer back to the preceding clause. Lo cual sounds slightly more formal and is very common in writing, while lo que is the go-to for everyday speech.
Why is there a de in cambió de género?
What role is nos playing in nos sorprendió?
It acts as a direct object pronoun here. With verbs of emotion like sorprender, Latin American Spanish usually treats the person experiencing the emotion as the direct object receiving the action. The thing causing the surprise, which is the whole previous clause represented by lo que, acts as the subject of the verb.
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