Chapter 1
Topic 3 Indirect Object Pronouns
Ana Serrano
An indirect object is a person who receives the action of a verb indirectly; to whom or for whom something is done.
In Spanish, the indirect object is usually preceded by the preposition “a” and in English by the preposition “to.”
A sentence that has an indirect object usually also has a direct object.
-
José me compra chocolates. José buys me chocolates.
- What is the verb of the sentence? Buys
- For whom José does buy the chocolates? For me
- What is it that he buys? Chocolates
He buys them for me. Él me (indirect) los (direct) compra.
Whom indirectly receives the action of buying? = me = me
What receives directly the action of buying? = chocolates = los
Order of the pronouns are always
IO first and DO second
1). María compra bolígrafos para él.
María _ _ compra .
2). La maestra da el examen a los estudiantes.
La maestra _ _ da.
3). Ellos traen los libros para Rosa
Ellos _ _ traen.
| Subject Pronoun | Dar | Decir |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | doy | digo |
| Tú | das | dices |
| Ud./él/ella | da | dice |
| Nosotros | damos | decimos |
| Uds./ellos/as | dan | dicen |
- Both verbs are irregular in the “yo” form.
- Often used with Indirect Object Pronouns, me, te, le.
Decir is a stem-changing verb, from -e to -i.
- (Yo) le digo a mis estudiantes sus notas. I tell my students their grades.
- (Yo) le doy a mis estudiantes un examen fácil. I give my students an easy test.
- (Tú) le dices a tus amigos la noticia. You tell your friends the news.
- (Tú) le das a tu perro un hueso. You give your dog a bone.
