Using la de + noun + que verb in Spanish
In Spanish, if we want to express "how much or how many of something" in a sentence in a context that implies surprise for the speaker, we can use this construction:
La de + noun + que + verb (+ subject)
This way, the speaker puts a lot of emphasis on/intensifies the quantity, in a similar way to when we use ¡Cuánto/cuánta/cuántos/cuántas + noun!
For example:
As you can see, it does not matter if the noun is singular or plural, masculine or feminine - "La de" is invariable, it does not need to agree with the noun. It is as if we were omitting the word "cantidad" in the sentence:
¡La (cantidad) de vino que bebió Miguel ayer!
This structure is generally used in exclamatory sentences but it could also be a statement:
For a differnt structure expressing the same see:
See also:
- El/la/los/las + noun + que + verb to indicate quantity/intensity (exclamations)
- Using el de/la de/los de/las de to specify what/who you are talking about
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Examples and resources
¡La de besos que me da siempre la abuela cuando me ve!Grandma gives me so many kisses when she sees me!
No te puedes ni imaginar la de vueltas que he dado para encontrar tu casa.You can't imagine how hard it was to find your house. [lit: how many rounds I gave to find your house]
