Object Pronouns Explained

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

The problem

Spanish objects pronouns are, in the third person, different for accusative (direct object) cases and dative (indirect object) cases.

What does that mean?

Here are some examples, in English:

In English, the pronoun is the same for both cases (“her,” in this example, but it could also be “me,” “you,” “him,” or “them” in other similar sentences). Note, however, that the meaning is different in the two cases: on the column on the left, she is directly receiving the action (she’s being called, visited, loved or known, respectively). On the column on the right, the action is happening “to her:” a flower is being given to her, my apartment is being shown to her, a lesson is being taught to her, and a story is being told to her.

In Spanish, for first and second grammatical persons (both in singular and plural), we use the same pronoun for both cases (me, te, nos, os). The problem comes with the third person: when the pronoun is accusative (direct object), we use “lo/la/los/las.” When the pronoun is dative (indirect object), we use “le/les.” Here is the Spanish translation of the examples above:

How can I tell whether the case is accusative or dative?

Our recommendation is to memorize a list of common verbs that usually take people as direct objects…

(Pets are considered to be people, grammatically)

…knowing that, in these cases, the pronoun for the person(s) will always be “lo/la/los/las”…

…and then memorize a list of common verbs that usually take people as indirect objects…

…knowing that, in these cases, the pronoun for the person(s) will always be “le/les:”

Practice – Translate the following sentences into Spanish:

1. I called her
2. They visit her
3. She knows me
4. We gave them a present
5. Mary sent her a card
6. Tony helped us
7. The broker showed them the apartment
8. They explained to her how the program works
9. Do you know him?
10. She gave them a pen

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Correct answers for Practice – Translate the following sentences into Spanish:
1. La llamé. 2. Ellos la visitaron. 3. Ella me conoce. 4. Les dimos un regalo. 5. Mary le envió una tarjeta. 6. Tony nos ayudó. 7. El agente inmobiliario les mostró el apartamento. 8. Ellos le explicaron cómo funciona el programa. 9. ¿Lo conoces? 10. Ella les dio un bolígrafo.