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Indirect Objects& Pronouns andredundantobject pronouns

in Spanish

In English, the Indirect Object follows the verbin an active voice sentence just as a DirectObject does. But the function of an IndirectObject is different. Instead of being theobject of the action of the verb as a DirectObject is, the Indirect Object is the person orthing to whom or for whom the action isperformed:

I write a letter (direct object) "to my friend"(indirect object)

I bought a sweater (direct object) "forJennifer" (indirect object)

She borrowed a CD (direct object) "from me"(indirect object)

The Direct object is something that is acted ondirectly by the verb whereas the Indirectobject gets the Direct object (thereby beingindirectly affected by the verb.)

I like to think of it as, the direct object getsthe direct action. The indirect object getsstuff.

Keanu besa a la profe (here la profe is thedirect object and gets all the kissing action.

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Keanu le da un beso a la profe. (here la profeis the indirect object, and she get the kiss(which is given as the direct object.)

In English, the Indirect Object pronouns are Me,You, Him, Her, Us, and Them which are differentfrom the Subject pronouns which are I, You, He,She. It, We, They.

In Spanish, they are

SubjectPronoun

IndirectObject

pronouns

Yo Me

Tú Te

Él, ella,usted

Le

Nosotros Nos

Vosotros Os

Ellos,ellas,uds.

Les

Note: There are no masculine or feminineIndirect Object Pronouns ‐ only singular or plural.(Yay!)

Let's look at an example: (Remember thatsentences marked with * are grammaticallyincorrect.)

I give a ticket to the crazed driver.

Let's take a look at the components of thesentence:

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I the subject (the person forwhom we conjugate the verb)

givethe verb [transitive] (transfersaction to an object ‐requires anobject)

a ticketdirect object (receives theaction of TO GIVE) ‐ it's what isgiven.

(to) thecrazeddriver

the indirect object (this is towhom the ticket is given)

Now let's replace the Indirect Object "thespeeding maniacal driver" with the IndirectObject Pronoun ("him") This pronoun will refer tothe driver without naming him.

I give him [or her] a ticket.

Now we'll do a similar sentence in Spanish:

Yo le doy una boleta al chofer loco.

Let's take a look at the components of thesentence:

Yo the subject (the person forwhom we conjugate the verb)

doythe verb [transitive] (transfersaction to an object ‐requiresan object)

una boletadirect object (receives theaction of TO GIVE) ‐ it's what isgiven.

(al) choferenloquecido

the indirect object (this is towhom the ticket is given)

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Let's replace the Indirect Object chofer with theIndirect Object Pronoun le. We use le becausechofer is singular.

*Yo doy una boleta [le].

Like the Direct Object pronoun, in Spanish youmust place the indirect object directly in front ofthe active (conjugated) verb:

Yo le doy una boleta.

"But wait!", you say, "The le was already there!"

The sample sentence was "Yo le doy una boletaal chofer loco!"

This is because Spanish uses redundant objectpronouns to specify the person to whom thespeaker is referring. In English, we either use thepronoun or name the indirect object but notboth:

"You give the money to Thomas."

or "You give the money to him."

But not: *"You give him the money to Thomas" .

I have to replace Thomas' name with the pronounin English ‐ I can't use both in English.

But we can use both the pronoun and the indirectobject in Spanish. In fact, even when youidentify the person by name, you must still usean Indirect Object pronoun:

Yo le doy el dinero a Tomás.

We cannot say * Yo doy el dinero aTomás.

Clarification Tags

The a Tomás calarifies to whom you are

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referring specifically. We know that Le (him)refers to Tomás.

If I say, Te doy el dinero or Sara nos dio lainformación or even Sara me escribió un email,we know who the indirect object is (You, us orme). It is with le and les that confusion canoccur:

Le di el libro is vague if we don't alreadyknow exactly to whom I am referring. Itmeans "I gave the book to him / her / youformal."Le di el libro a Juan is much clearer: Igave the book to Juan.

Les mandé las cartas is not as specific asLes mandé las cartas a Ken y Barbie.It all depends upon whether you need toclarify to whom you are referring.

Note that we use the Directional(prepositional) "a" when we add theindirect object:

Le di el libro a Antonio.Me dio las flores a mí.Nos describió la escena anosotros.Les mostró las fotos a losestudiantes.Te dio un beso a ti.

Information on Pronoun Placement

All Pronouns are placed directly before asingle conjugated verb, and can be placedbefore the conjugated verb even when weuse a compound verb:

Yo le doy una boleta.Yo le quiero dar una boleta.

And, we can attach it also to the end of apresent participle or an infinitive:

Yo quiero darle una boleta.Yo estoy dándole una boleta.

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(We put an accent on dando to preserve thepronunciation.)

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