I stayed with ‘the thing’ from last post and realized it’s actually quite an interesting word. “El coso” is every hardware store owner’s worst nightmare. In fact, there’s a well spread sign warning customers not to refer to spare parts they are looking for as “el coso del cosito”:

As we all know, having a placeholder for more obscure, unknown terms is invaluable, so next time you are struggling to explain what you need, what you lost, what is broken, default to:

• el coso que se pone en…
• el coso que se conecta a…
• el coso que va en…
• el coso que viene en…
• el coso que necesitás para…

And all other creative applications of the device.

However, the thing as used in English goes much further than that.

Sometimes, you want to say something like:

• The thing I love about living in Argentina is…

In such cases, you can’t use ‘el coso’. You need ‘lo’.

• Lo que me gusta de Argentina es…

Other times you need to say:

• The thing is…

In these cases you say:

• Lo que pasa es que…

Quite a fluid word, indeed.

See you soon,

Thanks for reading,

You might also want to read these articles:

• Expressions with MIERDA
  As a sequel to our previous post, today we focus on MIERDA and its multitude of meanings.
• The body and bodily functions
  A handy list of things we all do but rarely (care to) learn in a foreign language.
• Spanish Class | SNL
  A fun sketch from Saturday Night Live where students are in class ‘learning’ Spanish.
• How to go about with reading in Spanish
  In this post I want to make you want to read, even if you feel you’re not ready for it.
• Implied subject
  This post deals with a little tweak that can make your Spanish sound more natural —dropping the subject pronoun.
• Start Shadowing now!
  Today I’ll get you started with shadowing, so your Spanish speaking skills go through the roof.