PRONOUNS IOPs Indirect Object Pronouns Indirect Object Pronouns

PRONOUNS IOP’s (Indirect Object Pronouns)

Indirect Object Pronouns Indirect objects tell “to whom” or “for whom” something is done. Just like direct object pronouns replace direct objects, indirect object pronouns are the replacements for indirect objects, which are always personal nouns.

Below you can find the chart which separates the indirect object pronouns into 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd person as well as singular or plural. ***Notice that the English definition for each indirect object includes "to/for" since they always indicate where the object is going. Singular Plural Me (to/for me) Nos (to/for us) Te (to/for you INFORMAL) Os (to/for y’all INFORMAL) Le (to/for you FORMAL, him, her, it) Les (to/for all of you FORMAL, them) * Notice that the 1 st and 2 nd person pronouns are the same as the direct object pronouns and that the 3 rd person pronouns, "le" and "les" do not indicate any gender.

In general the indirect object of a sentence will ALWAYS use an indirect object pronoun whether or not there is also an indirect object noun phrase. To find the indirect object phrase in a sentence, ask “to whom? , ” “for whom? ” Le tiró la pelota a Juan. (He threw the ball to Juan. ) A Juan is the indirect object phrase and the indirect object pronoun le is also used, but is not translated directly.

Le tiró la pelota. (He threw the ball to him. ) Even without a Juan, Le still indicates to whom the direct object (the ball) is thrown, and is translated as to him. However, because 3 rd person indirect object pronouns do not indicate gender, this sentence could also mean: He threw the ball to her. He threw the ball to it. He threw the ball to you. (singular, formal) * Because the 3 rd person indirect object pronoun is gender neutral, it is common to maintain the indirect object phrase in the sentence for clarification.

Me compró una rosa a mí. (He bought a rose for me. ) He bought a rose for whom? For me. So you will use the indirect object pronoun me. You can also write this sentence without the prepositional phrase a mí and it means the same thing. Me compró una rosa. (He bought a rose for me. )

Nos contaron la historia a nosotros. (They told the story to us. ) They told the story to whom? To us. So you will use the indirect object pronoun nos. You can write this sentence without the prepositional phrase para nosotros and it will mean the same thing as well. Nos contaron la historia. (They told the story to us. )

Below is a list of words that often take a person as an indirect object in Spanish. comprar(le) algo to buy something forsomeone contar(le) algo to tell something to someone dar(le) algo to give something to someone decir(le) algo to say something to someone escribir(le) algo to write something to someone mandar(le) algo to send something to someone mostrar(le) algo to show something to someone pedir(le) algo to ask something of someone regalar(le) algo to give (a gift) to someone servir(le) algo to serve something to someone traer(le) algo to bring something to someone

PRACTICE Please write 7 sentences demonstrating that you can use IOP’s correctly using the following as your model: 1) Nos contaron la historia a nosotros. (They told the story to us. ) Nos contaron la historia. (They told the story to us. )