Breakdown of El gerente dice que lo de que te penalizan por la pesa es verdad.
ser
to be
de
from / of
la verdad
the truth
que
that / than
te
to you / you (direct object)
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
decir
to say, to tell
el gerente
the manager
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
la pesa
the weight
penalizar
to penalize
Questions & Answers about El gerente dice que lo de que te penalizan por la pesa es verdad.
Why do we need the second que in lo de que te penalizan?
Lo de refers back to a familiar situation, translating to "the matter of" or "the thing about". When you describe that situation using a full clause with a conjugated verb (te penalizan), you must introduce it with que. If you were just referencing a noun, you would drop the que (for example, lo de la pesa just means "the thing about the scale").
It looks clunky to have que lo de que all in a row. Is this actually how people speak?
Yes, it is very natural in Spanish! The first que simply connects "The manager says" to the rest of the sentence. Then, the entire phrase lo de que te penalizan por la pesa acts as the subject for the verb es at the end. Spanish is much more comfortable stacking que clauses than English is with stacking "that".
Does the phrase lo de que always take the indicative mood, like penalizan here?
Not always; it depends on the broader context of the sentence. Here, the statement ends with es verdad (it is true), which declares a fact and triggers the indicative (penalizan). If the sentence expressed an emotion, value judgment, or doubt—such as Es injusto lo de que te penalicen (It's unfair that they penalize you)—you would need to use the subjunctive.
I learned that "weight" is el peso. Why does this sentence use la pesa?
El peso is indeed the general concept of "weight" (how heavy something is). La pesa, however, refers to a physical weighing scale, a dumbbell, or a weighing station (like at an airport or market). Saying you are penalized por la pesa literally implies you are penalized by the scale or the weighing process itself.
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