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Spanish 2 Unit 6: Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

This unit teaches you to replace nouns with direct and indirect object pronouns, alone and together, so your Spanish sounds natural instead of repetitive.

Covers: Direct object pronouns, Indirect object pronouns, Placement before conjugated verbs, Attaching to infinitives and gerunds, Double object pronouns and le → se, Clarifying se with a + pronoun

Study guide

A direct object receives the action of the verb directly and answers what or whom: compro el pan (I buy the bread). A direct object pronoun replaces it: lo compro. The direct object pronouns are me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las. In the third person, you must match the gender and number of the noun being replaced: el libro → lo, la casa → la, los zapatos → los, las fotos → las. People can be direct objects too, usually marked with the personal a: veo a María → la veo. Watch out for nouns whose gender is not obvious from the ending, such as la foto, la mano and el mapa.

An indirect object tells to whom or for whom something is done: le doy el libro a Ana (I give the book to Ana). The indirect object pronouns are me, te, le, nos, os, les. Notice that only the third person differs from the direct set: le and les, which do not show gender. Spanish usually includes the indirect object pronoun even when the noun is also stated, so le escribo a mi tía is normal and expected, not redundant. Verbs that commonly take indirect objects include dar, decir, escribir, mandar, prestar, explicar, preguntar and comprar (for someone).

Placement follows the same rules as reflexive pronouns. With a single conjugated verb, the pronoun goes directly before it: lo veo, no lo veo. With a conjugated verb plus an infinitive or gerund, put the pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to the infinitive or gerund: lo voy a comprar = voy a comprarlo; lo estoy leyendo = estoy leyéndolo. When you attach a pronoun to a gerund, add a written accent to keep the stress. With two attached pronouns on an infinitive, you also need an accent: dármelo, explicártela. A pronoun may never stand between the two verbs or appear twice.

When a sentence has both kinds of pronouns, the indirect one always comes first: me lo das (you give it to me), te la explico (I explain it to you). If both pronouns begin with l, the indirect le or les changes to se: le doy el libro → se lo doy, not le lo doy. Because se can mean to him, to her, to you (usted), to them or to you all, speakers often add a clarifying phrase: se lo doy a ella, se lo explico a ustedes. On tests, expect to replace one or two nouns with pronouns, choose the right gender and number, and place the pronouns correctly with infinitives and gerunds.

Key ideas

• Direct objects answer what or whom; indirect objects answer to whom or for whom.
• Third-person direct pronouns (lo, la, los, las) show gender and number; le and les do not.
• Pronouns go before a conjugated verb or attach to an infinitive or gerund.
• With two pronouns, the indirect object comes first.
• Le and les become se before lo, la, los or las.
• Spanish often keeps le or les even when the indirect noun is stated.
• Attached pronouns often require a written accent to keep the stress.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Saying le lo or les la instead of se lo or se la.
• Putting the direct pronoun before the indirect, as in lo me das.
• Using le for a direct object, as in le veo (in standard Latin American usage: lo/la veo).
• Ignoring gender of tricky nouns, as in los fotos instead of las fotos.
• Forgetting the accent in forms like dármelo or leyéndola.

Before the test, make sure you can

• Identify the direct and indirect objects in a sentence.
• Replace a direct object with the pronoun of correct gender and number.
• Use le and les for indirect objects, including with a stated noun.
• Place pronouns correctly with conjugated verbs, infinitives and gerunds.
• Combine two pronouns in the correct order.
• Change le and les to se before lo, la, los, las.
• Add accents when attaching pronouns.

Words to know

dar

to give

regalar

to give as a gift

mandar

to send

enviar

to send

prestar

to lend

devolver

to return (an item)

traer

to bring

decir

to say, to tell

explicar

to explain

preguntar

to ask

contestar

to answer

mostrar

to show

contar

to tell (a story)

el paquete

package

la carta

letter

el regalo

gift

las llaves

keys

la foto

photo

la tarea

homework

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.