Indirect Object Pronouns
Indirect Object Pronouns
English marks 'to whom' or 'for whom' either with the word 'to' or just word order. Spanish uses a dedicated set of pronouns instead, sitting in the same before-the-verb spot you just learned for direct objects.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Le/les replace 'to him/her/them'
le doy el libro (I give the book to him/her) — le comes before the verb, like lo/la did
I give him/her the book / I give the book to him/her — two possible word orders, no dedicated pronoun required
Le and les mark an indirect object — the person something is given, told, or done for — and they sit in the same pre-verb position direct object pronouns did. English can express the same idea either by reordering the sentence ('I give him the book') or adding 'to' ('I give the book to him'), but doesn't have one dedicated pronoun family the way Spanish does.
Le/les often stay even when the person is named
le doy el libro a Juan (I give the book to Juan) — le appears even though 'a Juan' already says who
I give the book to Juan — no equivalent extra pronoun; naming Juan is enough
Spanish frequently keeps le or les in the sentence even after naming the actual person with a + name, which looks redundant from an English perspective. This isn't a mistake to avoid — it's standard, expected Spanish, and comes up constantly with verbs like dar (to give), decir (to tell), and gustar (covered in the next lesson).
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- to him / to her / to you (formal)
- English
- to them / to you all
- English
- to me
- English
- to you
- English
- to us
- English
- I give to him/her
- English
- I tell him/her
- English
- he/she gives to me
- English
- I write to them
- English
- he/she sends to us