Before we go forward, let’s take a step back. A couple videos ago, we went over direct
objects, and you saw how to use direct object pronouns. Remember?
“I buy food.” is “Compro comida.” “Comida” is the direct object, because
it gets the action of the verb, which is “buy” or “comprar”. The direct object usually
answers the questions, “What?” or “Whom?”
So what do I “buy”? “Food” or “comida”.
But I can also say “I buy it.” or “La compro.” “It” or in this case “la”
is the direct object pronoun. What always trips me up is you have to put the direct
object pronoun, before the conjugated verb. A little tricky. It’s like talking backwards.
If any of this doesn’t make sense to you, you should really go back and watch the video,
Direct Object Pronouns.
Because in this video, we’re going to continue down that same path. In English, there’s
really not much else to teach with this, because direct object pronouns are exactly the same
as indirect object pronouns.
But in Spanish, that just isn’t so. What that means, in reality, for you, is you have
to choose the right one.
But don’t worry. It’s not that hard. And when you’re done with this video. Not only
will you know how to use indirect object pronouns, and how they’re different from direct object
pronouns. But, if you’re anything like me, you’ll even know English little better.
Hola. Soy Jordan and this is a Spanish Quickie. Fast, easy Spanish lessons. From somebody
who speaks your language.
At the very beginning of this video, I said direct objects usually answer the questions,
“What?” or “Whom?”
“I buy food.” What do I “buy”? “Food.”
Well, indirect objects usually answer the questions, “To whom?” or “For whom?”--pertaining
to the direct object.
So, “I buy you food.” For whom do I buy the “food”? For “you”. “You” is
the indirect object. And in this case, already an indirect object pronoun.
Here’s the chart of all the indirect object pronouns in Spanish. Do they look familiar?
They should.
Except for the third row here, they’re exactly the same as the direct object pronouns you
already learned.
“I buy you food.” would be “Te compro comida.” Notice the placement of “te”
before the conjugated verb. This is just like direct object pronouns. It’s tricky. But
if you’ve already practiced, this’ll be no harder.
As always though, it’s the third row here that really messes everything up. As you see,
it’s just plain different.
With direct object pronouns, “him” is masculine and “her” is “feminine”.
“Him” is “lo” and “her” is “la”.
But with indirect object pronouns, “him” and “her” are both “le”.
It works the same on the plural side.
So “I love him.” would be “Lo amo.” “I love her.” would be “La amo.”
But “I buy him the food.” would be “Le compro la comida.” And “I buy her the
food.” would also be “Le compro la comida.”
See how this can get a little confusing?
So in Spanish, it’s important you can identify the direct object and the indirect object
in a sentence, because sometimes, which pronoun you use will depend on it.
Let’s practice this in English quickly to get used to it, before we see it in Spanish.
“Manuel tells me a story.” “A story” is the direct object. It answers the question,
“What?” “What does Manuel tell?”
Then “me” is the indirect object pronoun. It answers the question “To whom?” “To
whom does Manuel tell a story?”
Here’s another one. “He sells her the phone.” “The phone” is the direct object.
“Her” is the indirect object pronoun.
“I bought you a present.” “A present” is the direct object in this one. And “you”
is the indirect object pronoun.
Got this?
Asking those questions, “What?” or “Whom?” then “To Whom?” or “For Whom?” really
does work.
Now, since indirect objects are basically where the direct object is going, it’s safe
to say, you can’t have an indirect object or indirect object pronoun, without a direct
object.
But what about this sentence?
“He writes me every week.” -- “Él me escribe cada semana.”
To whom does he write? To “me”. So “me” is the indirect object pronoun. But what does
he write? “Every week?” That’s not right. But there’s nothing else. No other words.
And you can’t have an indirect object without a direct object.
What’s going on here?
He didn’t write me literally. Like write on me? Or maybe trace an outline of me?
You have to look into the meaning of the sentence. Not just the words.
He wrote a letter to me. Or a postcard. Or maybe a poem? I don’t know, the direct object
is implied. It exists, it’s just implied. Simply talking about this makes it more complicated
than it really is. All that’s important is you use the correct word at the correct
time. “Lo”, “la”, “los” and “las” for direct objects. And “le” and “les”
for indirect objects.
But this idea, of an implied direct object, this’ll come into play in the future, several
times. So it really does help to at least understand the theory. Then just move on.
Another example. “He tells me.” He tells me what? The sentence doesn’t say. But you
can’t tell nothing. So it’s something. The answer? A secret? It has to be something.
Then to whom does he tell? He tells “me”. “Me” is the indirect object pronoun and
the direct object is implied.
Okay, let’s move on.
All the examples you’ve seen so far have involved only one verb. And when there’s
only one verb, the indirect object pronoun always goes before the verb--just like direct
object pronouns.
But when there’s two verbs in a sentence. Also just like direct object pronouns, you
can put the indirect object pronoun before the conjugated verb, or attach it to the end
of the not conjugated verb, or the infinitive.
So “I want to tell you something.” could be “Te quiero decir algo.” or it can be
“Quiero decirte algo.”
We haven’t talked about that word, but “decir” can be “to say” or “to tell”. Both
are very common.
That’s why you’ll often hear the very cute mistake from a Spanish speaker, learning
English, “I want to say you something.” or “I told to him.”
Next time you think you sound like a complete idiot when you make a mistake, think about
how cute they sound when they make a mistake. You’re fine. Just get out there and say
stuff.
Okay, let’s talk redundancy. Often, you’ll see an indirect object pronoun, even when
the indirect object is used.
That’s weird, I thought indirect object pronouns replaced indirect objects?
They do. But there are two good reasons to use both at the same time.
Number one. Clarity. The third person is very ambiguous. “Le” can mean “him”, “her”
or “you” (formal). So it’s nice to clarify.
“Le escribo.” That could be “I write him.” “I write her.” or “I write you.”
(formal)
To make it very clear to whom I write, I could say “Le escribo a Manuel.” or “Le escribo
a él.” In both those sentences, “le” is the indirect object pronoun, but “Manuel”
and “a él” are the indirect objects basically.
So you’ll often see both the indirect object and indirect object pronoun used in the third
person to avoid ambiguity. To make it very clear what’s being done to whom.
The second reason you would use both, is to add emphasis.
This is more of a feeling. Memorize the rule for sure. But once you see it, and hear it,
and even better use it a few times, this’ll really become instinctive.
“He loves me.” That’s “El me ama.”
But he loves ME -- like you’re fighting with somebody over who he loves more and you
want to emphasize the ME. It would be better to say “El me ama a mí!” The “a mí”
at the end, doesn’t add any extra meaning. It means “to me” and we already know that
from the “me”. But the “a mí” at the end -- it just adds emphasis.
I really want to give you an example right now of the most common use of this. But I
can’t. Not yet. You don’t know the main words in the sentence. And I don’t want
to confuse you.
So in the next video, we’re going to cover something very common, but kind of tricky.
Verbs like “gustar”. Which basically work in the exact opposite way as every other verb.
I call them selfish verbs.
In the meantime, what I want you to do right now is head over to GringoEspanol.com/indirect-object-pronouns/
download the Practice Worksheet and do it. You’ll get some practice picking out the
direct and indirect objects. Then some practice using them. The Answer Key is also at that
link. And that link is also below this video.
That’s it for this time. I’ll see you next time. Hasta luego. Adiós amigo.