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Lo de acariciar el hocico siempre lo hace ronronear.

Lo de acariciar el hocico siempre lo hace ronronear.
The thing about petting the snout always makes him purr.
From Lesson 342:Situational reference (lo de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Lo de acariciar el hocico siempre lo hace ronronear.

How does lo de work here with the infinitive acariciar?
The phrase lo de translates to "the matter of" or "the thing about." It is used to refer to a situation already known to the speakers. By putting it directly before the infinitive acariciar, it turns the action into an abstract concept acting as a noun: "the whole business of petting the snout."
What is the subject of the verb hace in this sentence?
The entire chunk Lo de acariciar el hocico acts as the subject. Because this abstract concept counts as a single, neuter idea, it takes the third-person singular conjugation hace.
Why do we use lo in lo hace ronronear instead of le?
This uses hacer to mean making someone or something do an action. The pronoun you use depends on the second verb. Because ronronear (to purr) does not take a direct object, the animal being made to purr serves as the direct object of the whole phrase. That is why we use lo. If the second verb had its own direct object, we would use le instead.
Is acariciar the standard word for petting an animal?
Yes! While it frequently translates to "to caress" when talking about humans, acariciar is the everyday verb used across Latin America for petting or stroking an animal.

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