Español 30

Lección Estructuras Práctica Asignación

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

Hopefully you remember learning about Object Pronouns before:

  • ÂżTienes el dinero? SĂ­, lo tengo.
  • ÂżMe escuchas? SĂ­, te escucho.
  • ÂżVan a visitar a tus primos? SĂ­, vamos a visitarlos.

Look familiar? We will review them quickly here, and then learn how to use Indirect Object Pronouns. We will also look briefly at how to use both types of pronouns at the same time. (This information is on the Práctica page)


Direct Object Pronouns
me me
te you-familiar
lo, la him, her, it, you—formal
nos us
os you-all—familiar
los, las them, you-all—formal


Use the examples above to review where the pronouns go in a sentence.

What do you notice about Placement Rules?

  • They either go ______ the conjugated verb
  • if there are 2 verbs in the sentence (as in the last example) it is attached ______ the infinitive.
them
in front of
them
after

For further explanation and some important practice, explore the website in the link below - make sure you do the first few Practice Quizzes from the side menu:

Direct Object Pronouns: Part I

If you feel like you remember this pretty well, you are ready to build on this and learn about Indirect Object Pronouns.

Half the challenge here is knowing what the INDIRECT Object is. Do you know this in English? Can you name these parts of the sentence in the following example?

  • subject, verb phrase
  • direct object, indirect object

I am giving the flowers to my friend.

What is being given? ______

them
the flowers, the Direct Object or D.O.

To whom are they being given? ______

them
to my friend, the Indirect Object or I.O.

So if we wanted to replace the Objects with pronouns, we would say:

  • I am giving them to my friend.
  • I am giving the flowers to her.
  • I am giving them to her.
them
D.O.
to her
I.O.

A key word in that sentence is to - it indicates that it is Indirect, as opposed to the flowers directly receiving the action of the verb. (What are you giving away - the flowers or her?)

  • I give flowers vs I give to her.

Now let's take a look at that same example in Spanish:

Yo doy las flores a mi amiga.

Yo doy las flores a mi amiga.
las flores
Yo doy las flores a mi amiga.
a mi amiga

We already know about Direct Object pronouns. How would you say this sentence above with one?

Yo doy las flores a mi amiga.
Yo las doy a mi amiga. I am giving them to my friend.

To replace the Indirect Object (to her) we use different pronouns:

Yo le doy las flores. I am giving flowers to her.

Here are all of the Indirect Object Pronouns:



Indirect Object Pronouns
me to me
te to you—familiar
le to him, her, it, you—formal
nos to us
os to you-all—familiar
les to them, you-all—formal


¡Buenas Noticias!

  • These are actually familiar to you... you've been using them all along with the Reverse Verbs like Gustar.
  • The Placement Rules are exactly the same as the Direct Object pronouns.

Step into the "classroom" and we will tell you all about these pronouns in a different way, and introduce you to how they are used at the same time!


¡Importante!

Watch the following presentation and take notes of important information.

Follow this important link to view a presentation on direct and indirect object pronouns.


How did you do with the practice exercises? This is a big concept - for more practice, use the websites listed below or contact your teacher with any questions you have.