Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns

Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns

Now that you understand the concept of the direct object (i.e., the object to which the action is being done in a sentence), you are ready to look at the concept of the indirect object.

An indirect object is the person or thing for whom an action is being or has been performed, usually indicated in English by the words “to” or “for.”

For instance, take a look at the following sentence:

Jenny is writing a letter to her father.

The subject in this sentence is “Jenny,” and the verb is “is writing.” The direct object is “letter.” The indirect object—the person or thing for whom the action is being performed—is “father.”

You could also say the sentence in the following way:

Jenny is writing a letter to him.

Him refers to Jenny’s father. In this sentence, the indirect object noun has been replaced by a pronoun.

You can do the same thing in Spanish, if you know the indirect object pronouns.

Unlike in English, the indirect object pronouns go directly before the verb. If the sentence is negative (has a “no” in it), the indirect object pronoun still goes directly before the verb (see example 2).

Por ejemplo:

2. No voy a invitar a Pedro y Ernesto a la fiesta.
        - I’m not going to invite Peter and Ernest to the party.
No les voy a invitar a la fiesta.
        - I’m not going to invite them to the party.

3. Lupe está hablando con nosotros
        - Lupe is talking with us.
Lupe nos está hablando.
        - Lupe is talking with us.

There is one case, however, in which the indirect object pronoun can be placed somewhere else. It can be attached to the end of an infinitive. For example, in example 1 above, the second sentence could be written, “Quiero comprarle un regalo.” In example 2 above, the second sentence could be written, “No voy a invitarles a la fiesta.”

 

To Whom? Adding Clarity to “Le” and “Les”

As you can see in the table above, when you use the indirect pronouns le or les, you could be referring to anyone: you, him, her, them! English is much more specific than Spanish in that sense. For that reason, if it is unknown or unclear to whom the indirect object pronoun is referring, it’s a good idea to use proper nouns in addition to the indirect object pronoun.

Por ejemplo:

 

You can also use the indirect object noun in addition to the pronoun if you want to emphasize to whom or for whom the action is occurring.

Por ejemplo:

Te invito a ti y nadie más.
- I’m inviting you and no one else.

! A Note of Caution Indirect object pronouns in the “yo,” “tú,” “nosotros,” and “vosotros” forms are identical to reflexive pronouns! (You’ll study reflexive pronouns further in Chapter 6.3.) Their uses are quite different, however, so the only way you’ll be able to tell the difference is by the context of the sentence.

 

In the next section we’ll work on Putting Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns Together