Why do I have to put "que" in the sentence "es que yo sin ti."?

Question

I can't seem to figure out the grammar for this sentence. I've tried looking online at learning resources but still can't figure it out.   Here is the rest of the verse, it's from a song. >Es que yo sin ti Y tú sin mi >Dime quién puede ser feliz >Esto no me gusta >Esto no me gusta

Answer 1

Hi! I love this question and I know this song :-). In this particular phrase, que means "that", so the phrase es que yo sin ti = "it's that me without you". The more you study and listen to native Spanish speakers, the more you will notice they often begin sentences (in colloquial speech) with Es que... It's more or less like saying, "It's just that..." or "The thing is..." in English.

I hope this helps! I love that you are so curious about the grammar used in song lyrics. I was the same way when I first began learning Spanish!

Cuídese.

Alissa G., M.A. Spanish