Sea cual

[elan]

in my spanish book: Guantanameras i read:
Zafra: recogida de la caña de azúcar; participan en ella la mayoría de los jóvenes, sea cual sea su profesión.
what does sea cual mean?

[poli]

whatever their profession may be.

[elan]

thanks poli,

but how do i read this?
sea cual = whatever or sea cual sea = whatever ?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by elan

Zafra: recogida de la caña de azúcar; participan en ella la mayoría de los jóvenes, sea cual sea su profesión.
what does sea cual mean?

Originally Posted by elan

but how do i read this?
sea cual = whatever or sea cual sea = whatever ?

sea is part of the verb to be, and is a subjuctive mood, translated in English as be or may be.
sea cual is an expression which in itself means whatever, and the second sea is might/may be, so it reads whatever their profession might be. It's not that easy to see, because there are the two verbs - a more literal translation would be: be that whatever their profession might be

[irmamar]

"Sea cual sea (x)" is our way of saying "whatever (x) may be". You could translate "whatever" as ""cualquiera", since another way of saying it is "cualquiera que sea su profesión" (= sea cual sea su profesión).

Likewise, "whenever" is translated into "cualquier sitio/lugar", but when you say: "Whenever you go", I would say "A cualquier sitio donde vayas" or "Vayas donde vayas". The same with "whichever": "Whichever you like" = "Cualquiera que te guste" or "Te guste la/lo/el que te guste".

I hope its clearer now.