Unstressed object|indirect pronouns in Spanish (me,te,se,lo,la,los,las,nos,le, etc)

Unstressed object pronouns are used in Spanish to sustitude direct and indirect objects, it's one of the trickies structures in Spanish and even native speakers can missuse them, so you must be carefull when dealing with them. They can be translated sometimes as: me, you, him, her, it, us and them, however you must be aware that they don't have exactly the same meaning.

 

To be able to use correctly unstressed object pronouns you must be able to recognize fastly when a phrase contain either an object or indirect object. An direct object is the object which receives the action of a verb, it can be discovered by asking ¿what? ¿whom? to the verb. Example: Pepe eats fish | Pepe come pescado (what does Pepe eat?)

do (direct object) = fish = pescado

 

 

Exercises: Find out the direct object of the following phrases:

> Juan loves Maria | Juan ama a María

> Carlos fixes computers | Carlos repara computadoras

> The policeman saw the thiefs / El policia vio a los ladrones

 

The indirect object is whom take the action of the direct object, and it can be discovered by asking ¿to whom? ¿for whom?. Example: Lucas buys a watermelon for Sandra / Lucas compra una sandía para Sandra

do (direct object) = a watermelon = una sandía

io (indirect object) = for Sandra = para Sandra

 

Exercises: Find out the direct and indirect object of the following phrases:

> Margarita made coffe for Marcos / margarita hizo café para Marcos

> Alba gave some tips to her son / Alba dio unos consejos a su hijo

> The boss told the workers to arrive earlier / El jefé dijo a los trabajadores que llegaran más temprano

 

Once you're able to identify the existence of an direct|indirect object in a phrase you will be able to use the appropiate pronoun. Use the following table to identify which pronouns can be used:

 

http://i.imgur.com/kYv9S0p.png

 

Example: Pepe eats fish | Pepe come pescado

do=fish=pescado, pescado refears to an animal in third person singular (he, the fish), therefore you must use 'lo' and replace the phrase as follows:

 

Pepe lo come (most of the times, the object pronouns must be located before the main verb)

 

Let's review other example: Juan loves Maria | Juan ama a María

do=a Maria, Maria refears to a person in third person singular (she, Maria), therefore you must use 'la' in the sentence:

 

Juan la ama

 

Exercises: Replace the direct object in the following senteces with the appropiate pronoun:

> ¿Did you find  your mother's ring? | ¿Has encontrado el anillo de tu madre?

> Roberto paid a lot of money for his new car | Roberto pagó mucho dinero por su nuevo carro

> A friend will translate the book | Un amigo traducirá el libro

 

The same technique can be used to replace indirect objects, Example:

Lucas buys a watermelon for Sandra / Lucas compra una sandía para Sandra

od=a watermelon = una sandía

id=for Sandra=para Sandra

 

Sandra refears to a third person in singular (she, Sandra), and it can be replaced with 'le' because it's an indirect object and not a direct object (in that case it would be replaced with 'la')

 

Lucas le compra una sandía

 

Exercises: Replace the indirect object in the following senteces with the appropiate pronoun:

> Tomorrow I'll give the money to Eduardo | Mañana entregaré el dinero a Eduardo

> I bought a gift for you | Compré un regalo para ti

> The donations this year will be given back to the contributers | Los donativos de este año serán devueltos a los contribuyentes

 

You can replace both, the direct and the indirect objects with pronouns however an additional rule must be learn, whenever you want to put together a 'lo' and 'le', you must replace the second one (indirect object) with 'se'. Example: Lucas buys a watermelon for Sandra | Lucas compra una sandía para Sandra

od=a watermelon = una sandía

id=para Sandra=for Sandra

 

Lucas la compra para Sandra (replacing the direct object)

Lucas le compra una sandía (replacing the indirect object)

Lucas se la compra (replacing both, the direct and indirect objects, pay attention to the 'se' which replaces 'le' for the indirect object)

 

keywords, palabras clave: leismo, laismo, loismo, objeto directo, objeto indirecto

 

If you've questions or want to practice Spanish, let me know =)

Madre terra Aqui esta meu incenso perfumado meu cacão cobiçado minha fresca medicina aqui esta minha pena que se levanta Hoje entrego-os em homenagem por deixar-me tocar a graça do seu corpo Eu cresço em você pai eu vivo em ti mãe minhas mãos foram manchas feri você O criador assim o quis assim o senhor das alturas o ordenou de você sairá minha comida e bebida um pouco para mim outro para ti tu também tens sede Aqui esta meu tributo aqui esta minha gratitude isto te dará forças isto te dará vida Juan Gregorio Regino

Nossa infância Nossa infância é só uma lembrança demasiada vaga longe ficou aquela nossa terra a terra que nos viu crescer Partiram nossos primeiros suspiros sim nos dar tempo de madurar ainda nos despertamos e já somos homens e já somos pais sim nos dar tempo de olhar ao futuro Não jogaremos mais embora nossa mente siga brincando já somos pais o tempo não da trégua para pensar encontramo-nos, desmaia-nos o tempo não da trégua para curar Nossos sonhos já não existem em céu nenhum nossos primeiros suspiros partiram ontem e já somos pais não temos tempo de madurar, não temos Juan Gregorio Regino / Nuestra infancia (Nga kamá xixií)