Que no ???

[caliber1]

So I'm reading this story about elephants and I can't understand the beginning oddly enough.

-Que no. -Si, madre, que si.
Que yo los vi.

Why am I getting stuck with these little words. I know the ways to translate them word for word, but my English speaking cerebro won't make any sense of it. I talked to my Spanish buddy at work. He said somethng along the lines of "que no" meaning your upset. If I tell my daughter not to grab my phone and later I see her playing with it, I could say "que no!" But I don't see how that would work in this instance. Could someone point me in the right direction. ¡Quiero entenderlo!

PS Thanks all for the advice to read little stories in Spanish. I read the one about the "Lechuza" and the other about the boy with the "moneda". Very interesting how my things stick in your head when you see an actual word versus just hearing it. Thanks everyone!

Oh, and I think that this is a conversation between mother and son? Just by the hyphons and such. Would it help understand if I posted the whole thing. It's not that long. Okay, now I'll wait

[Rusty]

It's almost the same thing as your other instance. If you saw someone doing something you told them not to do, saying 'que no' to them reminds them that you said not to do it. If you say the phrase to yourself instead of the infractor, it means "I don't believe it."

In the elephant story, the 'mother' doesn't believe what the boy has told her (just before the story started). The 'boy' says 'que sí' to convince her otherwise and then lets us in on the 'rest of the story' - that he saw them. I would think the story goes on to mention elephants, so we know the whole conversation that was had before the story started.

[wrholt]

Think of kids fighting by saying "Did not!" "Did so/too!" One possible equivalent in Spanish is --¡Que no! --¡Que sí!

"que no" sometimes is short for "dije que no" = I said no. That is, a repetition of a refusal, such as from a parent to a child.

Try this translation of this snippet:

"No, you didn't"
"Yes, mother, I did. I did see them."

[aleCcowaN]

caliber1, what you call "little words" often includes the conjunction "que" which can't be translated into English, though sometimes using "that" is OK so English students tend to mix them up. "Que" as a conjunction is sort of the sticky area in a Post-it, as it glues what follows (the message) to the preceding phrase (your monitor's frame). The message on the Post-it is called "oración subordinada" and you should start to get used to spot them -and to not mix up the conjunction "que" with the adverb "qué"- as this makes the very fabric of Spanish and you'll hear it one each twenty seconds.

In this case there are post-it-s with the messages "No" and "Sí", but it seems there's no monitor or refrigerator to attach them. That's why there are attached to the words of the other person, so "¡Que no!" with a "que" and exclamation marks tells instantly that it is an ongoing debate or argument of some sort, and "no" and "sí" are said as a way to insist on one's position or as a way to deny the position of the other person or as a way to insist on one's command or to resist the commands of others (context will tell). It also works as reassurance for ones position, and also it replaces the double adverb in other languages like French (oui, si / non, pas)

-Oui (Sí)
-Non (No)
-Mais si! (¡Que sí! --->strictly "¡Pero sí!")

I'm telling you this because the exact use of "que" in your example is pretty infrequent, in spite of it being normal and basic Spanish, so you must see the big picture in order to not get quite right explanations mislead you in your learning path.

[caliber1]

Rusty, wrholt, and aleC, thanks a bunch. That makes sense. And about "que" and "qué". I have been noticing a lot more in these little stories all the different places that the accents are placed. For instance "el carro" and "él es el hombre". My hurdle right now is that I have only talked to people in Spanish and this is the first time writing and reading so it is all really new to try and write down words. Thanks for explaining.