Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns, explained

The problem

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

What does that mean?

Let's first talk about verbal transitivity.

What is transitivity?

Some verbs have a complete meaning by themselves. If I say I sleep, the meaning is complete. I can't sleep something, I can't sleep someone. I can only sleep. If I say I buy, the meaning is not complete. I have to buy something.

We say that verbs that can't have objects are intransitive, and verbs that can have, or even need objects are transitive. Some verbs can behave in more or less transitive ways, depending on the context. For example, I can fly, and I can also fly a kite. I can run, and I can also run a business.

People as grammatical objects: accusative and dative cases

Some verbs can take people as grammatical objects. We can love things, and we can also love people. We can visit places, and we can also visit people. We can help people, and accuse people. In all these examples, the person is a direct object, a grammatical object that is receiving the entire action of the verb. This is called the accusative case (as in I accuse Peter, or acuso a Peter). The person is being accused by me (or helped, or visited, or loved).

Some verbs can take two grammatical objects, one of them being a thing and the other one being a person. I can give someone a gift, or buy someone dinner, or show someone my apartment. With these verbs, the thing is the direct object, and the person is receiving the action of the verb in a secondary way. This is called the dative case (as in I give Mary a gift, or doy un regalo a Mary). Mary is not being given, or bought, or shown. The thing, dinner, or the apartment are being given, bought and shown, and they are being given, bough and shown to or for a person.

We can substitute the person in both accusative and dative cases for a pronoun. In English, the pronouns are the same for both cases. Here are some more examples:

Accusative case (her is a direct object pronoun)

I call her.

I visit her.

I love her.

I know her.

Dative case (her is an indirect object pronoun)

I give her a flower.

I show her my apartment.

I teach her a lesson.

I tell her a story.

Again, 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: in the first example, she is directly receiving the action (she’s being called, visited, loved, or known, respectively). In the second example, 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. In Spanish, object pronouns have to be placed right before the verb, with nothing between the verb and the pronoun.

Accusative case (her is a direct object pronoun)

La llamo.

La visito.

La amo.

La conozco.

Dative case (her is an indirect object pronoun)

Le doy una flor.

Le muestro mi apartamento.

Le enseño una lección.

Le cuento una historia.

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…

• Amar (to love)

Amo a María.

• Ayudar (to help):

Ayudé a esa mujer.

• Conocer (to know):

Conozco a tu hermano.

• Llamar (to call):

Llamo a María.

• Mirar (to watch/to look at)

Miré al hombre. 

• Odiar (to hate)

Odio a Javier.

• Pasear (to walk)

Paseo a mi perro. (Pets are considered to be people, grammatically.)

• Visitar (to visit)

Visito a Juan en New Jersey.

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

I help him. Lo ayudo.

I know them (f). Las conozco.

I visit her. La visito.

I call them (m). Los llamo.

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

• Contar (to tell)

Conté la historia a Luisa.

• Enseñar (to teach)

Enseño la lección a la clase. 

• Enviar (to send)

Envío la carta a Mateo.

• Explicar (to explain)

Explico el problema a María.

• Mostrar (to show)

Muestro el mapa a Julia.

• Regalar (to give something as a present)

Regalo una flor a Marisa.

• Dar (to give)

Da una manzana a Javier.

• Decir (to say)

Decía unas palabras a Sandra cada noche.

• Preguntar (to ask)

Preguntó una pregunta a Silvia.

• Pedir (to ask for/to request)

Pedía un vaso de agua a Laura.

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

I send him a letter. Le envío una carta.

I tell them a story. Les cuento una historia.

I give her a present. Le doy un regalo.

I ask them for a pen. Les pido un bolígrafo.

Double pronouns

Things can get a little more complicated in dative cases when we also use a pronoun for the thing that is being given, shown, taught, etc. In the sentence I give her a present, or le doy un regalo, in Spanish, we can also substitute un regalo for a pronoun. Since regalo is masculine singular, we'll use the direct object pronoun lo. But where do we put it? We have to follow two rules:

1. The pronoun for the person (the indirect object) goes first.
2. If the pronoun for the person is a third-person one (le or les) we have to change it to se (for both singular and plural).

Here are the examples from the previous section adding the double pronoun version:

I send him a letter. Le envío una carta. Se la envío.

I tell them a story. Les cuento una historia. Se la cuento.

I give her a present. Le doy un regalo. Se lo doy.

I ask them for a pen. Les pido un bolígrafo. Se lo pido.

If the indirect object is not in the third person, we have to apply rule #1, but not #2:

He sends me a letter. Me envía una carta. Me la envía.

They tell you a story. Te cuentan una historia. Te la cuentan.

Negative sentences using pronouns

We said earlier we cannot have anything between the object pronouns and the verb. If we want to make a sentence negative, we have to place no before the pronoun or the pronouns.

He doesn't call me. No me llama.

I did not visit her. No la visité.

He did not send me a letter. No me envió una carta. No me la envió.

Pronouns with two-verb constructions

If we are using a two-verb construction, we can place the pronoun(s) right before the verb like we usually do:

He can call me. Me puede llamar.

He could not send me a letter. No me pudo enviar una carta. No me la pudo enviar.

In this case, we also have the option of adding them after the second verb, attached to it:

He can call me. Puede llamarme.

He could not send me a letter. No pudo enviarme una carta. No pudo enviármela.

Both versions are equally correct and common. There is no good reason to use one version instead of the other.

Pronouns with the present progressive

If we are using the present progressive, we can place the pronoun(s) right before the verb like we usually do:

He is calling me. Me está llamando.

He is sending me a letter. Me está enviando una carta. Me la está enviando.

In this case, we also have the option of adding them after the gerund, attached to it:

He is calling me. Está llamándome.

He is sending me a letter. Está enviándome una carta. Está enviándomela.

Both versions are equally correct and common. There is no good reason to use one version instead of the other.

Practice – Translate the following sentences into Spanish

1. I called her.

2. They visited 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.