Direct and indirect object pronouns
Object pronouns -direct and indirect object pronouns- substitute the noun. In English these are âmeâ, âhimâ, âherâ and so on. For example, in the sentence âGive Sam the pen,â Sam is a noun, which can be changed to âGive her the pen.â In Spanish the pronoun either comes before the verb as a separate word or after joined with the verb, when are used with affirmative imperative, an infinitive or a gerund. For example:
Le da el boli (he is giving her the pen).
Voy a darle el boli (I am going to give her the pen).
âDale el boliâ (give her the pen).
Estoy dĂĄndole el bolĂ (I am giving her the pen).
Object pronouns in Spanish
ÂżPuedes hacerme una tostada? (Can you make me a toast?)
Os llamo manaña (I will call you tomorrow).
ÂżTe gusta este libro? (Do you like this book?)
Direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish
As you can see object pronouns are a little more complicated in Spanish and that is because they change depending on whether you are referring to the direct or indirect object. Direct and indirect objects are nothing to be afraid of â you have them in English.
How direct and indirect objects work
The majority of sentences have two objects. The direct object is the noun or pronoun on the receiving end of the action for example, âPass me the penâ â it is the pen here that is receiving the action (by being passed around). The indirect object is the person or entity for whom you are doing the action.
In the above sentence the indirect object is âmeâ. Another way to say this would be âPass the pen for meâ. In English indirect objects are often indicated with the prepositions âforâ or âto.â For example, âExplain the problem to usâ â the problem is the direct object while âusâ is the indirect object. With pronouns this is âExplain it to us.â In the Spanish equivalent of this sentence the direct object is signified with âloâ and the indirect with ânos.â So it would be âexplĂcameloâ â The indirect object goes first followed by the direct (or in other words âloâ and âlaâ go at the end). Explain to him the problem would be âExplĂcale el problema.â
The LE, LO, LA rule
If I were to say in Spanish (Give them to them) I would end up with âDaleslas.â These are far too many âlâ words for comfort. To avoid the Repetition of all those âlâ sounds âleâ and âlesâ change to âseâ when paired with âlo,â âlaâ, âlosâ or âlas.â So the above sentence would be âDĂĄselas.â More examples âExplĂcaseloâ (explain it to her). âPrestĂĄrseloâ (lend him/them it).
Remember you can contact you tutor with any question you have about direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish. Don’t you have a personal Spanish tutor yet? Also you can try our workshop about personal pronouns. Now, it is time to practice what you have learned with our quizzes.
Gracias por tu aportaciĂłn. Feliz semana.
Muy buen ejercicio. Muxchas gracias. Lo Ășnico es que en la frase tres falta el auxiliar del pretĂ©rito perfecto para que la frase quede completa. (Me lo ha regalado …)
MuchĂsimas gracias, Laura. Ya estĂĄ corregido.