Take the fastest path to fluent Spanish
Learn how to use que si..., que si... in Spanish
In colloquial and spoken Spanish, we often use the expression: que si... que si... in order to enumerate items. The context can be a list of complaints, reasons, excuses or demands. Let's see some examples to learn how and when to use this structure:
Mi padre es bastante severo, que si no te pongas tanto maquillaje, que si deberías estudiar más y no salir tanto..., qué pesado.My dad is quite strict, don't wear so much make-up, you should study more and go out less, so annoying.
Los ecologistas no dejan de quejarse, que si estamos destrozando los bosques, que si las emisiones de gases...Ecologists won't stop complaining, we're destroying the forests, what about gas emissions...
Mi profesor no se dejó convencer para subirme la nota, que si faltaba mucho contenido, que si el vocabulario era muy pobre...My teacher wasn't at all persuaded to raise my grade, [he said] there was a lot of content missing, that the vocabulary was poor...
What comes after que si can take different forms, generally a sentence with a conjugated verb, but it can also be simplified with the main important element so that the rest is implied. For example this could be simplified:
The infinitive could also be used sometimes, for example:
No sabía que este nuevo trabajo requiriese tanto de mí, que si generar las facturas, que si llamar a los clientes, que si organizar la agenda de la jefa... Estoy muy ocupada pero también aprendiendo muchas cosas nuevas.I didn't know that this new job would require so much of me, generating the invoices, calling the clients, organizing the boss's agenda... I'm very busy but am also learning lots of new things.
Although the structure que si... que si... tends to be mostly used in negative contexts (complaints, excuses...) sometimes it's used in a positive way. For example:
Note that there is no specific equivalent or translation for this in English.
Be careful not to use any written accents on que si in this context:
qué sí.... qué sí...
Want to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
