Complementos Indirectos

•explanation of indirect object pronouns in English•indirect object pronouns in English and Spanish•placement of indirect object pronouns in Spanish•practice answering questions with indirect object pronouns

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What does an indirect object pronoun do?

An indirect object pronoun takes the place of an indirect object. For example:

Are you giving Ana the truck?

Yes, I am giving her the truck.

indirect object

indirect object

pronounindex

What does an indirect object pronoun do?

An indirect object pronoun takes the place of an indirect object. For example:

Does Ed buy María the flowers?

No, he doesn’t buy her the flowers.

indirect object

indirect object

pronoun

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What does an indirect object pronoun do?

An indirect object pronoun takes the place of an indirect object. For example:

Are you going to give Fred and me the car?

Yes I am going to give you the car.

indirect object

indirect object

pronoun

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The following are the indirect object pronouns in English:

me

you (fam.)you (form.)him

us

you (pl.)them (m.)

her them (f.)

The Spanish equivalents are as follows:

= me

= te

= le= le= le

= nos

= les= les= les

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you (pl.) = os

Notice the placement of the indirect object pronouns in Spanish:

I give you the money.

indirect object

pronoun

Yo te doy el dinero (a ti).

indirect

object prono

un

verb

verb

In English the indirect object pronoun is placed after the verb. In Spanish it is usually put before a the conjugated verb.

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Notice the placement of the indirect object pronouns in Spanish:

They sing us the song.

indirect object

pronoun

Ellos nos canta la canción (a nosotros).

indirect

object prono

un

verb

verb

In English the indirect object pronoun is placed after the verb. In Spanish it is usually put before a the conjugated verb.

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Notice the placement of the indirect object pronouns in a negative sentence in Spanish:

Él no te canta.

indirect

object prono

un

verb

In a negative sentence in Spanish the indirect object is placed in front of the conjugated verb. It can not be placed in front of “no”.

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Notice the placement of the indirect object pronouns in a negative sentence in Spanish:

Mi novio nunca me manda cartas.

indirect

object prono

un

verb

In a negative sentence in Spanish the indirect object is placed in front of the conjugated verb. It can not be placed in front of “no”.

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Notice the placement of the indirect object pronouns in a sentence with an infinitive construction in Spanish:

¿Quieres mandarme el dinero?

Sí, te quiero mandar el dinero.

Sí, quiero mandarte el dinero.

The indirect object pronoun can be placed either before a conjugated verb or after the infinitive.

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Translate the following sentence into Spanish.

I give the book to him.

Yo le doy el libro (a él).

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Translate the following sentence into Spanish.

We sell the car to her.

Nosotros le vendemos el carro (a ella).

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Translate the following sentence into Spanish.

They send the letter to us.

Ellos nos mandan la carta (a nosotros).

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Translate the following sentence into Spanish.

She buys the book for them.

Ella les compra el libro (a ellos).

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Translate the following sentence into Spanish.

They tell us the truth.

Ellos nos dicen la verdad (a nosotros).

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Translate the following sentence into Spanish.

We send them the letters.

Nosotros les mandamos las cartas (a ellos).

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Answer the following question making sure to use a indirect object pronouns. If (no) follows the question answer in the negative. If (sí) follows, answer in the affirmative.

¿Les das el dinero a ellos? (sí)

Sí, les doy el dinero (a ellos).

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Answer the following question making sure to use a indirect object pronouns. If (no) follows the question answer in the negative. If (sí) follows, answer in the affirmative.

¿Nos das el carro a nosotros? (sí)

Sí, les doy el carro (a Uds.).

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Answer the following question making sure to use a indirect object pronouns. If (no) follows the question answer in the negative. If (sí) follows, answer in the affirmative.

¿Te mandan cartas a ti? (no)

No, no me mandan cartas (a mí).

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Answer the following question making sure to use a indirect object pronouns. If (no) follows the question answer in the negative. If (sí) follows, answer in the affirmative.

¿Te dice ella la verdad a ti? (no)

No, no me dice la verdad (a mí).

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Answer the following question making sure to use a indirect object pronouns. If (no) follows the question answer in the negative. If (sí) follows, answer in the affirmative.

¿Les muestra ella el libro a Uds.? (sí)

Sí, nos muestra el libro (a nosotros).

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