Hey, everyone! Today, I’m super pumped to tackle a tricky topic for English speakers learning Spanish: direct and indirect object pronouns.
I know it can be a real head-scratcher, but I’m all fired up to break it down and make it crystal clear for you.
Let’s get into it!
WHAT IS THE DIRECT OBJECT?
A direct object is what gives meaning to a verb.
For example, in the sentence “Luisa buys flowers,” the direct object is flowers because it completes the meaning of the verb buys.
Without the direct object flowers, the action of buying would lack completeness or specificity.
You can replace explicit direct objects with direct object pronouns.
So, in the sentence “Luisa buys flowers,” you can replace the explicit direct object flowers with the direct object pronoun them.
“Luisa buys them” conveys the same meaning as “Luisa buys flowers,” and them serves as the direct object pronoun that replaces flowers.
WHAT IS THE INDIRECT OBJECT?
The indirect object is a fancy term used in grammar to describe who or what receives the action of a verb.
For instance, in the sentence “She gave Juan a gift,” Juan is the indirect object because he’s the one who gets the gift.
Instead of saying “She gave Juan a gift,” you can also say “She gave him a gift.” In this case, him is a pronoun that replaces Juan, and it’s known as an indirect object pronoun.
WHY THE HECK DO YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS?
Knowing this is very important when learning Spanish because, unlike in English, some of the direct object and indirect object pronouns are different. However, as always, I’ve been as brief as possible!
Here I give you a list. I’ve shown it in bold when the direct and indirect object pronouns are different.
| Person | Dir. Object (Eng.) | Dir. Object (Span.) | Ind. Object (Eng.) | Ind. Object (Span.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | me | me | me | me |
| tú | you | te | you | te |
| usted | you | lo/la | him/her | le |
| él | him | lo | him | le |
| ella | her | la | her | le |
| él-ella-ello | it | lo/la | it | le |
| nosotros nosotras | us | nos | us | nos |
| ustedes (men) | you | los | you | les |
| ustedes (women) | you | las | you | les |
| ellos | them | los | them | les |
| ellas | them | las | them | les |
Let’s see some basics before doing the exercises!
THE DIRECT OBJECT
Juan listens to Pepe (explicit direct object)
Juan escucha a Pepe (objeto directo explícito)
Juan listens to him (direct object pronoun)
Juan lo escucha (pronombre de objeto directo – it goes before the verb)
TIP! When an explicit direct object is a person or something we might view as a “person,” it needs to be preceded by the preposition a. For example:
Yo veo a Juana (I see Juana)
Yo la veo (I see her)
Yo veo la flor (I see the flower)
Yo la veo (I see it)
THE INDIRECT OBJECT
Juan sells the apartment to Pepe (explicit indirect object)
Juan vende el apartamento a Pepe (objeto indirecto explícito)
Juan sells him the apartment / Juan sells the apartment to him (indirect object pronoun)
Juan le vende el apartamento (pronombre de objeto indirecto – it goes before the verb)
WHEN BOTH PRONOUNS ARE TOGETHER
Juan gives us the apple.
Juan nos da la manzana.
Juan gives it to us.
Juan nos la da (the indirect object pronoun goes before the direct object pronoun)
TIP! When the indirect object pronouns le and les go before the direct object pronouns la, lo, las and los they become se.
Juan sells it to him (direct object pronoun + indirect object pronoun)
Juan le se lo vende (indirect object pronoun + direct object pronoun)
So, that’s the theory part done! Now, it’s time to put your intuition to work and practice the exercises until you master them. Don’t worry, if you still have any doubts, you can always ask me in our next lesson. I’m here to help!
I’ll be adding more exercises soon! Just click start, you don’t need to identify yourself!
GAME 1!
GAME 2!
