Pronombres de Objeto Indirecto

Indirect Object Pronouns

• The indirect object tells us where the direct object is going.

I buy earrings for Gabriela.

S Verb Direct object Indirect object

Remember that the DO receives the action of the verb. What do I buy? Earrings.

The Indirect Object is where the DO is going. To whom do the earrings go? To Gabriela.

• Indirect objects represent the nouns and pronouns that answer the questions “to whom,”

“for whom,” “for which,” and “to which” the verb’s actions are intended.

What does she write? A letter (DO)

Who does she write to? To Juan

(IO)

She writes a letter to Juan.

v DO IO

She writes me a letter.

v IO DO What does she write? A letter (DO).

Who does she write to? Me (IO).

Name the verbs (v), direct objects (DO), and indirect objects (IO).

1. I buy Gloria a drink.

2. My sister gives me a car.

3. I cut the flowers for you.

4. I bring him lunch.

5. She writes poems for us.

Pronombres de Objeto Indirecto

Singular Plural

me (to me) nos (to us)

te (to you / informal) les (to you / plural)

le (to you / formal) les (to them / f-m)

le (to him, to her, it)

• IOP’s are usually people.

• IOP’s are always placed before the conjugated verb.

v DO IO

Daniel buys a book for me. Or

Daniel buys me a book. v IO DO

Daniel me compra un libro. IOP

comes before the conjugated verb compra

Daniel buys a book for you (inf). Or IO phrase

Daniel buys you a book. buys you

Daniel te compra un libro. te compra

Daniel buys a book for her. Or

Daniel buys her a book. buys her

Daniel le compra un libro. le compra

Daniel buys a book for them. Or

Daniel buys them a book. buys them

Daniel les compra un libro. les compra

Daniel buys a book for us. Or

Daniel buys us a book. buys us

Daniel nos compra un libro. nos compra

Ejercicios1.Sara writes an e-mail for

me.___________________________________

2. Irma reads a book for him.__________________________________

3. Manuel buys tickets for us.___________________________________

4. Claudia brings the food for her.___________________________________

5. Melisa packs the suitcase for me.___________________________________

• To make sentences negative place a no infront of the indirect object pronoun.

Tomás brings flowers for her.

Tomás le trae flores.

Tomás doesn’t bring her flowers.

Tomás no le trae flores.

Daniel buys a movie for us.

Daniel nos compra una película.

Daniel doesn’t buy a movie for us.

Daniel no nos compra una película.

To clarify ambiguity.• Le and les present a problem because they are

ambiguous. That is, they can stand for different things.

Le to (for) you formal

to (for) him

to (for) her

Les to (for) them

to (for) you plural

Look at the following sentences:

Lisa writes her a letter.

Lisa le escribe una carta Lisa writes him a letter.

Lisa writes you (formal) a letter.

Lisa writes them (f) a letter.

Lisa les escribe una carta Lisa writes them (m) a letter.

Lisa writes you (pl) a letter.

Since there is no way to know who they are talking about, you can use a prepositional phrase to clarify the ambiguity.

To clarify the sentence “Lisa le escribe una carta” use the personal “a” and a pronoun.

Lisa le escribe una carta a usted.

Lisa le escribe a usted una carta.

Lisa le escribe una carta a él.

Lisa le escribe a él una carta.

Lisa le escribe una carta a ella.

Lisa le escribe a ella una carta.

• Sometimes a prepositional phrase is added not for clarity, but for emphasis:

Lisa me escribe una carta a mí. a yo = a mí

Lisa me escribe a mí una carta.

Lisa te escribe una carta a ti. a tú = a ti.

Lisa te escribe a ti una carta.

A sentence with two verbs.• You have two options with sentences with two

verbs:1) Place the IOP before the conjugated verb.2) Attach it directly to the infinitive verb.

Here are ejemplos of the first option:You (inf) need to buy me a cake.Me necesitas comprar un pastel.

They want to write us a letter.Ellos nos quieren escribir una carta.

Ejemplos of the second option (attach it to the infinitive verb):

Roberto should buy shoes for her.

Roberto debe comprarle zapatos.

We want to buy a hat for you (inf).

Queremos comprarte un sombrero.

She needs to give me the money.

Necesita darme el dinero.

Ejercicios. Translate the following by using both options.

Ejemplo: I should cut his hair for him. Le debo cortar el pelo. Debo cortarle el pelo.

1) Susi wants to buy tickets for you (inf).________________________________________________________________________

2) You (inf) should confirm the flight for me._________________________________________________________________________

3) You (formal) need to buy a bathing suit for her.________________________________________________________________________

Sentences with DOP and IOP• When IOP’s me, te, or nos, are used within a

sentence that also employs a DOP, they are placed immediately before the DOP.Ejemplo: DO IOP

He buys it (m) for me.

Me lo compra. IOP DOP

Me is placed before the direct object pronoun lo

I write them (f) for you (inf).

Te las escribo.

Ejercicios1. She sells it (f) to me._____________________

2. Oscar and Paco buy them (m) for us.___________________________________

3. We buy you (inf) a book.__________________

4. My mother writes us an e-mail. ______________________________________

5. Mariela sells them (m) to you (inf)___________________________________

6. He makes it (m) for me.__________________

7. You (formal) write it (f) for us.______________

• If IOP’s le or les are used within a sentence that also employs a DOP, they’ll be replaced by se, which is placed right before the direct object pronoun.

le lo se lo le los se los

le la se la le las se las

les lo se lo les los se los

les la se la les las se las

Ejemplo: I buy them (m) for her.

Le los compro Se los compro.

I buy them (m) for me. Me los compro.

I buy them for you (inf). Te los compro.

I buy them for you (formal). Le los Se los compro.

I buy them for him. Le los Se los compro.

I buy them for her. Le los Se los compro.

I buy them for them. Les los Se los compro.

I buy them for us. Nos los compro.

The reason for changing to se is to make it easier for the speaker to pronounce the words.

In negative sentences the no comes before the first pronoun. Ejemplo: No se lo compro.

Ejercicios. Use DOP’s and IOP’s.1. She sells pencils to us.___________________

2. They buy a pencil for you (inf).__________________________________

3. Norma writes it (f) for me._________________

4. You (formal) don’t give it (m) to them._________________________________

5. He brings them (f) to you (inf)___________________________________

6. We give it (m) to you (inf).__________________________________

• You can also attach both the DOP and the IOP to the verb in the infinitive.

• Ex:

• Laura needs to buy us the cookies.

s V1 V2 IOP DOP (conjugated) (infinitive)

Laura necesita comprárnoslas.

1. She needs to sell pencils to us.___________________________________

2. They want to buy a pencil for you (inf).__________________________________

3. Norma should write it (f) for me.___________________________________

4. You (formal) don’t have to give it (m) to them._________________________________

5. He can bring them (f) to you (inf)___________________________________

6. We are going to give it (m) to you (inf).__________________________________