IOP’s(Indirect Object Pronouns)

Indirect Object PronounsIndirect objects tell “to whom” or “for whom”

something is done. Just like direct object pronouns replace direct objects, indirect object pronouns are the replacements for

indirect objects, which are always personal nouns.

Below you can find the chart which separates the indirect object pronouns into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person as well as singular or plural. ***Notice that the English definition for each indirect object includes "to/for" since they always indicate where the object is going.

* Notice that the 1st and 2nd person pronouns are the same as the direct object pronouns and that the 3rd person pronouns, "le" and "les" do not indicate any gender.

Singular Plural

Me (to/for me) Nos (to/for us)

Te (to/for you INFORMAL)

Os (to/for y’all INFORMAL)

Le (to/for you FORMAL, him, her, it)

Les (to/for all of you FORMAL, them)

In general the indirect object of a sentence will ALWAYS use an indirect object pronoun whether or not there is also an indirect object noun phrase. To find the indirect object phrase in a sentence, ask “to whom?,” “for whom?”

Le tiró la pelota a Juan. (He threw the ball to Juan.)

A Juan is the indirect object phrase and the indirect object pronoun le is also used, but is not translated directly.

Le tiró la pelota. (He threw the ball to him.)

Even without a Juan, Le still indicates to whom the direct object (the ball) is thrown, and is translated as to him. However, because 3rd person indirect object pronouns do not indicate gender, this sentence could also mean:

He threw the ball to her.He threw the ball to it.He threw the ball to you. (singular, formal)

* Because the 3rd person indirect object pronoun is gender neutral, it is common to maintain the indirect object phrase in the sentence for clarification.

Me compró una rosa a mí. (He bought a rose for me.)

He bought a rose for whom? For me. So you will use the indirect object pronoun me. You can also write this sentence without the prepositional phrase a mí and it means the same thing.

Me compró una rosa. (He bought a rose for me.)

Nos contaron la historia a nosotros. (They told the story to us.)

They told the story to whom? To us. So you will use the indirect object pronoun nos. You can write this sentence without the prepositional phrase para nosotros and it will mean the same thing as well.

Nos contaron la historia. (They told the story to us.)

Below is a list of words that often take a person as an indirect object in Spanish.

comprar(le) algo to buy something forsomeonecontar(le) algo to tell something to someonedar(le) algo to give something to someonedecir(le) algo to say something to someoneescribir(le) algo to write something to someonemandar(le) algoto send something to someonemostrar(le) algo to show something to someonepedir(le) algo to ask something of someoneregalar(le) algo to give (a gift) to someoneservir(le) algo to serve something to someonetraer(le) algo to bring something to someone

PRACTICEPlease write 7 sentences demonstrating that

you can use IOP’s correctly using the following as your model:

1)Nos contaron la historia a nosotros. (They told the story to us.)Nos contaron la historia. (They told the story to us.)