Introducción a los complementos directos y los

Introducción a los complementos directos y
los pronombres de complemento directo
What is a direct object?
Direct objects answer the question “who?” or “what?” after the verb.
I ate the cake.  I ate what? the cake
The cake is the direct object.
Marta bought the sweater for her mom.  Marta bought what? the sweater
The students studied Spanish all night long!  They studied what? Spanish
What is a direct object pronoun?
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns in order to avoid awkward repetition. Direct object
pronouns replace direct objects when the identity of the direct object has already been
established. Direct object pronouns in English are me, you, him, her, it, and them. (Thus, the cake =
“it”)
The direct object pronouns in Spanish are these:
me  used when something happens to me
te  used when something happens to you
lo  used when something happens to him or it (if it is a masculine noun) or the formal
“you” (Ud.)
la  used when something happens to her or it (if it is a feminine noun) or the formal
“you” (Ud.)
nos  used when something happens to us
los / las  used when something happens to them or you (plural, i.e. happens to “Uds.”)
Subject pronouns vs. Direct Object Pronouns
Subject pronouns are different from direct object pronouns. Whenever you see a pronoun, think
about the function of the pronoun in the sentence: Ask yourself if it is a subject (which does the
action) or an object (which is acted
Object pronouns
Subject pronouns
upon) in order to understand the
(DO
the
action)
(RECEIVE
the action)
meaning.
I = yo
me = me
You = tú
you = te
You (formal) = Ud.
you (formal) = lo / la
For example, in the sentence “Lo
He/She/It = él/ella
him / her = lo / la
ve,” someone sees him (lo). Lo, since it
We
=
nosotros/nosotras
us= nos
is an object pronoun rather than a
You
(plural)
=
Uds.
you (plural) = los / las
subject pronoun, cannot possibly
They
=
ellos
/
ellas
them los / las
perform the action.
Position of direct object pronouns in Spanish
The direct object pronoun may appear in the following places in a sentence. (You may not be
familiar with all of these constructions yet.)
1. Before the conjugated verb
-- ¿Miras la televisión con frecuencia?
-- ¿Sí, la miro todos los días.
© 2012 Carla Whitley Grebert www.LaColega.com
Complementos directos
p. 2
2. If an infinitive is used, the pronoun may be attached to the end of the infinitive.
-- ¿Te gusta mirar la tele?
-- Sí, me gusta mirarla mucho.
CAUTION! You can only attach the object pronoun to the infinitive if you already would
need an infinitive in the sentence (for example, when one verb immediately follows another).
3. It may be attached to the end of any affirmative command (formal or informal).
Escríbela. (Write it. The pronoun la in this sentence might refer to “la tarea” or “la oración.”)
Léanlo. (You all read it. The pronoun lo might refer to “el capítulo” or “el memorandum.”)
4. It may be attached to the end of the present participle in a progressive construction.
Estamos haciéndola ahora. (We’re doing it now. The la might refer to “la tarea.”)
Estoy estudiándolo. (I’m studying it. The lo might refer to “el español” or “el vocabulario.”)
The personal a
In Spanish, the preposition a precedes a direct or indirect object when the object is a person or
people.
 It is used before common nouns referring to people (mi amigo, la profesora), before names, and
before the pronouns mí, ti, usted, él, ella, nosotros/-as, ustedes, ellos/-as (which are the pronouns
used as objects of prepositions)
 It is NOT used before object pronouns!
Ejemplos:
 Busqué a María en la bibioteca, pero no la encontré.
María is the direct object; the a tells us that she receives the action. The verb is buscar in
the preterite tense. The verb ending tells us that the subject is yo. (Notice the la of “no la
encontré” is the direct object pronoun used to keep from repeating “María.”)

A la hija la abraza la mamá.
The verb ending on abraza tells us the subject is él, ella, or Ud. In this case the verb
ending isn’t enough information to interpret the sentence. So the personal a is very
important. The a tells us that la hija is the direct object; she receives the action. So the
sentence means “The mother hugs the daughter.”
More about word order
In the previous example (A la hija la abraza la mamá) the subject follows the verb. In Spanish the
subject may come before or after the verb. However, the placement of the direct object pronoun is
not flexible
Thus, the following sentences have exactly the same meaning (“The mother hugs her). In both la
mamá is the subject and la is the direct object pronoun (standing in for la hija).
La abraza la mamá.
La mamá la abraza.
© 2012 Carla Whitley Grebert www.LaColega.com