Direct Vs. Indirect Object Pronouns in Spanish: Learn to Use Them Like Native

How far have you come in learning Spanish?

Have you come to object pronouns?

If you’ve already met them, you surely know that they can give you a headache.

Those little nasty object pronouns in Spanish can be challenging and often hard to understand.

Sometimes, you have a feeling like you will never learn them.

And then you try to consult yourself by saying that surely French object pronouns are also challenging and that there are many other language learners who struggle with them.

That’s all good but only if you want to continue pitying yourself and staying in that right spot.

But if you want to move forward and get to the more advanced proficiency level in Spanish with Spanish tutors or on your own, you have to take destiny into your own hands.

That means that you have to find a way to understand object pronouns in Spanish.

For a start, we are more than willing to help you.

That’s why, in today’s post, we will provide you with the direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish, how to use them, and show you some tips on which ones in which situations to use.

From now on, you won’t think about object pronouns as something hard.

And now, let’s dive in.

What is a Pronoun?

The pronoun is a word that substitutes a noun.

In the sentence 'I bought a car' the word 'car' you can replace with the pronoun 'it' so that it sounds 'I bought it.'

What Is an Object?

An object is a person or a thing that takes on itself the action of the verb in a sentence.

From the previous example, in the sentence 'I bought a car' the word 'car' is an object because it receives the verb's action.

So, not only can the word 'car' be a pronoun it is also an object.

Direct Vs Indirect Object

In order to know how to use them, first, we have to understand the difference between direct and indirect object pronouns. Only that way we will learn to use them at an instance correctly and without hesitation.

So, just like the name, a direct object pronoun is an object that receives the verb's action directly.

From our previous example, in the sentence 'I bought a car' the word 'car' is a direct object, and the word 'it' is a direct object pronoun.

An indirect object pronoun is an object pronoun that receives the verb's action indirectly, simply said, not right away.

In the sentence 'I'm writing a letter to Susan' the word 'Susan' is an object and by replacing it with 'she' it can be a pronoun, but it isn't a direct object because the verb 'to write' doesn't affect directly to her. The verb affects the 'letter' but indirectly it affects 'Susan.'

That's why, in this sentence, the word 'Susan' is an indirect object.

Direct And Indirect Object in Spanish

As for the direct and indirect objects and object pronouns, they are similar both in Spanish and English.

First, let's take a look at the Spanish object pronouns.

Spanish Direct Object Pronouns

Me- me Nos- us

Te- you Os- You all

Lo, la- him, her, it, you formal Los, las- them, you all formal

Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns

Me - me Nos- us

Te- you Os- you all

Le- him, her, it, you formal Les- them, you all formal

As you see, both direct and indirect object pronouns are the same, except in the third person singular.

It means that in Spanish, it won't be that hard to make a difference, especially to use object pronouns.

Direct Object Pronouns in Sentences

Here's one example of the direct object pronoun in a sentence in Spanish.

María me quiere.- María loves me.

The verb 'querer' , that is, 'quiere' in a sentence directly affects the object pronoun, which is, in this case, 'me' ( me).

It isn't that hard, right?

But what do we do in situations when we have a third-person singular? Which pronoun should we use?

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Here's one example:

Juan lee libros.- Juan reads books.

Here, the direct object is ‘libros.’

Now, we have to substitute the direct object for the pronoun.

We have ‘lo,’ ‘la,’ ‘los,’ and ‘las.’

Which one should we use?

To do that, we have to know whether the object, that is, the word is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

In our case, the word ‘libros’ is masculine plural, so the pronoun we should use is ‘los.’

Therefore, the sentence would look like this:

Juan los lee.- Juan reads them.

There’s also extra help for finding the direct object in a sentence. It is with questions ‘who?’ and ‘what?’ When the verb from the sentence can give you an answer to these questions, you’ve found the direct object.

Indirect Object Pronouns in Sentences

Now that you know how to use direct pronouns, using indirect pronouns should be easier.

You’ve learned that direct and indirect object pronouns are the same, except in the third person singular.

It means that you won’t have a problem using them as indirect pronouns, as well.

But, let’s take a look at the following example:

Escribo una carta para ti.- I’m writing a letter to you.

The word ‘ti’ is the indirect object pronoun because the verb ‘escribo’ doesn’t directly affect the word.

If you have difficulties finding indirect objects in a sentence, there are questions that can help you with that.

For finding indirect objects, you should ask ‘to/for what?’ and ‘to/for whom?’

Thanks to these questions, the verb can answer you, and you can easily find indirect objects.

Indirect Object With the ‘A’ Preposition

Some verbs in Spanish require the preposition ‘a’ with verbs, such as ‘dar algo a alguien’ (to give something to somebody).

It may not seem too hard to follow the verb+something+a+somebody, but when we come across a third person, we can struggle a bit.

If we use the sentence ‘Le doy manzanas’ which means I give some apples, do we know to whom we give those apples?

We don’t know.

That’s why we have to use the preposition ‘a’ so that we can know to whom we give the apples.

Le doy manzanas a él.- I gave him some apples.

Direct And Indirect Object Pronouns Together

It isn’t uncommon to come across two objects in one sentence, even one being direct and another indirect object pronoun.

How do we use them?

Which one goes first?

Here are some rules:

• The indirect object pronoun always goes before the direct object pronouns.

Le compro manzanas a Tom.- I bought Tom some apples.

Le los compro a él.- I buy them for him.

• The indirect object in the third person in situations like these always goes as ‘se.’

Le compro manzanas a Tom.- I bought Tom some apples.

Se los compro a el.- I buy them for him.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, object pronouns in Spanish only seem hard at first sight, but once you see them clearly and concentrate on what is their main purpose, learn their meanings in a sentence, and see some examples of how to use them, your Spanish tutor won't have the obligation to get into details with you because you'll already sound like a native but only to get to the perfection.