Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns

We’ve seen three types of
pronouns so far:
– Subject: yo, tú, él…
– Reflexive: me, te, se…
– Direct object: me, te, lo, la…

In this slide show, we are
going to look at one more
type: indirect objects.
What’s an indirect object?

Complete these sentences:
– The teacher gave ___ an A.
– Bill Gates sent ___ a million
dollars.
– My parents bought ___ a
used car.
– Julia told ___ the big secret.
So tell me the answer!

Did you say something like:
– The teacher gave you an A.
– Bill Gates sent me a million
dollars.
– My parents bought my little
sister a used car.
– Julia told everyone the big
secret.
Indirect objects

The indirect objects in
these sentences are the
people who received
something: you, me, my
little sister, everyone.
 The first two objects use
pronouns – you, me. Can
you guess what the
Spanish equivalents are?
That’s right!

me > me
 you > te

The second pair of objects
can be replaced with
pronouns – her, them.
What are the Spanish
equivalents?
Hmm, this looks familiar!

her > le
 them > les

We’ve seen this form
before when we looked at
gusta.
Some common verbs

Indirect objects are
used together with
verbs such as:
– Dar (give)
– Enviar (send)
– Comprar (buy)
– Mandar (send)
– Decir (tell)
– Regalar (give a gift)
Here are the forms!

The “indirect objects” are:
– me > me
– te > you
– le > him, her, “Ud.”
– nos > us
– les > them, “Uds.”
¡Vamos a practicar!

Complete each sentence with an
appropriate indirect object
pronoun. The recipient for each
sentence is provided.
 [Recipient: me] Mis padres ___
enviaron (sent) $100 para
comprar un vestido nuevo.
 Mis padres me enviaron (sent)
$100 para comprar un vestido
nuevo.
 Remember to place all objects
before a one-word verb form.
Otro, por favor.



[Recipient: you] ¿ ___ enviaron
tus padres dinero también?
¿ Te enviaron tus padres dinero
también?
What if there is more than one of
“you” ?
 ¿ Les enviaron sus padres dinero
también?
 Use the “Uds.” form!
Muy bien.

[Recipient: her] Diego
___ compró un anillo
(ring) a Luisa.
 Diego le compró un
anillo (ring) a Luisa.
Can you give us another?

[Recipient: us] La
profesora de antropología
___ da mucha tarea.
 La profesora de
antropología nos da
mucha tarea.
Double trouble.

In all of the examples, there
are two objects. That is,
someone is giving something
to someone. The something
is the direct object and the
someone (the recipient) is the
indirect object).
Say what?


Look at the first examples and
identify the objects:
The teacher gave you an A.
– Recipient: you
– Thing received: an A

Bill Gates sent me a million
dollars.
– Recipient: me
– Thing received: a million dollars

My parents bought my little
sister a used car.
– Recipient: my little sister
– Thing received: a used car
Double objects


We can simplify each sentence
if we already know what the
objects refer to. Look at this
passage:
My little sister got a new
apartment across town, but there
is no bus service. She saw a
used car she liked a lot, but she
didn’t have a lot of money. My
parents bought it for her.
Let’s take a closer

My parents bought it for
her.
 The expression in red is
the indirect object (the
recipient) and the word in
yellow is the direct object.
Both are pronouns.
What about in Spanish?

We can do the same thing in
Spanish:
 Tengo que comprar un libro
para la clase de historia, pero
no tengo dinero. Mis padres
me lo van a enviar por
Western Union.
– Recipient: me
– Thing received: lo (el dinero)
I do!

Mis padres me lo van a
enviar por Western Union.
 Note that the indirect
object precedes the direct
object.
 Think “indirect, direct
object”: I DO.
L+L=S+L

No, it’s not algebra class!
There is a special rule
about double object
pronouns that you will need
to know: if a sentence has
two objects that both start
with L, the first one
changes to SE.
An example, please.
Sure! Let’s simplify this
sentence: Yo envié una carta a mi
hermano.
 You could say either:

– Yo le envié una carta.

… or:
– Yo la envié a mi hermano.

But you could also say:
– Yo se la envié.
– Note how the “le” changes to “se”;
you can’t say “le la” because both
objects start with an “l.”
Let’s practice a few!

El director dio un mensaje
(message) a la secretaria.
 El director ___ ___ dio.
 El director se lo dio.
– Lo = el mensaje
– Se = a la secretaria
¡Otro, por favor!

Carmen envió unas cajas de
ropa a su hija.
 Carmen ___ ___ envió.
 Carmen se las envió.
– Las = las cajas
– Se = a su hija
Uno más y acabamos.

Mis padres regalaron unos
cheques a mi hermana.
 Mis padres ___ __ regalaron.
 Mis padres se los regalaron.
– Los = unos cheques
– Se = a mi hermana (not “me)
¡Ya está!

To summarize, here are the four forms you will need for
Spanish 1010-1020:
Subject
yo
tú
él
ella
Ud.
nosotros
ellos
ellas
Reflexive
me
te
se
se
se
nos
se
se
Direct object
me
te
lo
la
lo, la
nos
los
las
Indirect object
me
te
le
le
le
nos
les
les