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El que el concursante haya ganado el certamen nos sorprende.

El que el concursante haya ganado el certamen nos sorprende.
The fact that the contestant has won the contest surprises us.
From Lesson 454:Subject clauses (el que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El que el concursante haya ganado el certamen nos sorprende.

Why do we use el que at the beginning of the sentence instead of just que?
In Spanish, when a clause acting as the subject of the sentence starts with que (that), it is very common to put the masculine singular article el in front of it. El que translates roughly to 'the fact that.' While starting the sentence with just Que is grammatically possible, El que sounds much more natural in everyday speech.
Why is the verb haber in the subjunctive (haya ganado)?
The subjunctive is triggered by the main verb sorprende (surprises). Verbs expressing emotion, personal reaction, or value judgments about a situation always require the subjunctive in the dependent clause. Since the sentence expresses an emotional reaction to a completed action, we use the present perfect subjunctive (haya ganado) instead of the indicative (ha ganado).
It looks a bit strange to have el que el right next to each other. Is this normal?
Yes, it is perfectly correct and normal! The first el belongs to the phrase el que (the fact that), and the second el is simply the article for the noun concursante (the contestant). Because they serve completely different grammatical functions, placing them side-by-side is necessary here.
Is certamen a common word for 'contest'? Could I use concurso instead?
You can absolutely use concurso, which is actually more common for everyday contests like TV game shows or radio giveaways. Certamen is a slightly higher-register word often used for formal competitions, such as literary contests, beauty pageants, or artistic festivals.
Could I flip the sentence and put nos sorprende at the beginning?
Yes, you can say Nos sorprende el que el concursante haya ganado el certamen. However, note that when the clause comes after the main verb, dropping the el to just say Nos sorprende que... becomes much more common than when the clause starts the sentence.

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