Indirect Objects and Indirect Object Pronouns AKA IOPs

What are Indirect Objects? • The indirect object is the person who receives the direct object, or the person who benefits from the action of the verb He gives the woman the box OR He gives the box to the woman

What are IOPs? • These are pronouns that take the place of indirect objects He gives her the box OR He gives the box to her

These are the IOPs in Spanish. Do they look familiar? Me Te Le Nos Os Les

That’s right! These are the pronouns we use with Gustar! • The verb gustar literally means “to be pleasing to” • Therefore, when we say “me gusta la pizza”, we are literally saying “pizza is pleasing to me”, or “pizza pleases me” • In this case, I am the one receiving the benefit of the verb “to be pleasing to”

What do you think the other forms of gustar translate to literally? • Me gusta=It is pleasing to me • Te gusta=It is pleasing to you • Le gusta=It is pleasing to him/her/it • Nos gusta=It is pleasing to us • Os gusta=It is pleasing to y’all (in Spain) • Les gusta=It is pleasing to them/y’all

Now let’s use IOPs with the verb dar • • • He gives me the book=Me da el libro He gives you the book=Te da el libro He gives her the book=Le da el libro He gives us the book=Nos da el libro He gives y’all (in Spain) the book=Os de el libro He gives them the book=Les da el libro

To specify who the indirect object is, we have to use the “a” personal • Me=a mí • Nos=a nosotros • Te=a tí • Os=a vosotros • Le=a José, a • Les=a José y a Luisa, a ella, a él Luisa, a ustedes, etc

NOTE: • In English, we do not use the IOP if the indirect object is already present in the sentence – (That would be like saying “He gives her the book to María) • In Spanish, though, we ALWAYS need the IOP, even if the indirect object is in the sentence – For example, Le da el libro a María