De que es
Sun, Jan 8, 2017
De que es bonita, es bonita = I don't deny she's attractive, but ...
Here's a neat formula that I've heard in speech but have never seen described in a textbook.
Begin with de que, add a clausal complement and then repeat that complement. This formula is used to concede a point while immediately reducing or dismissing its relevance.
- De que está cerca, está cerca. I admit it's nearby, but even so, we don't have time to go there.
- De que es pendejo, es pendejo. Look, I don't deny he's an asshole, but there are worse things.
- De que es puto, es puto. Sure, he's a fag, but who cares? It's no skin off my back.
- De que me divorcio, me divorcio. That I'm getting divorced is not in doubt. But we're still in the process of working out the details. It hasn't been finalized yet.
- De que es bonito, es bonito. Pero yo no quiero vivir ahí. Yeah, it's an attractive location, as you say. However, I don't want to live there because ....
As you can see from the last example, this can be followed up with a comment on why the just-mentioned fact is irrelevant in the given situation.