You will now be learning about indirect object pronouns, which sounds like a complicated grammatical term, but is actually a part of language that you are probably accustomed to using every day. We will be looking at indirect object pronouns as they are used with verbs of communicationverbs like decir, preguntar, explicar. As you can see, these verbs are often referred to as verbs of communication, because they involve an exchange of information, or communicate some kind of information. The indirect object pronoun indicates or refers to the person to whom one asks a question, tells a secret, or explains the homework. The indirect object pronoun stands for or takes the place of the person or people who receive the information or are asked a question. You can think of it as a short cut or a more economical way of speaking. Let’s look at the indirect object pronouns and then some examples of how they are used.
complementos de objeto indirecto
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1a |  me |
nos |
| 2a | te |
os |
| 3a | le |
les |
| Roberto | ¿Pablo te manda mucho correo electrónico? | |
| Esmeralda | Nunca me manda correo electrónico, pero me llama mucho.
|
| Liliana | ¿A quién le escribes cartas? | |
| Moisés | Les escribo a mis amigos.
|
| Concepción | ¿Tú le hablas a tu hija en inglés o español? | |
| Arturo | Generalmente le hablo en español, pero a veces le hablo en inglés.
|
When you are using the third person indirect object pronouns le or les, you must specify about whom you are talking, which is why in the question ¿Le explicas la gramática a Carlos?, you have to say a Carlos at the end of the sentence; it serves to clarify whom the le represents. Once it is clear, you no longer have to keep repeating the name of the person. For instance, in the question ¿Tú le hablas a tu hija…?, it is necessary to include a tu hija, otherwise the question would just ask do you speak “to her,” without the other person knowing who the “her” is. Since it has been made clear in the question, the person answering can just use le, responding Sí, le hablo todos los días, and both persons having the conversation will understand that the le is referring back to the daughter. Once the le or les has been made clear, it is more common not to keep repeating the name. Constant repetition would sound stilted. If you were asked, “Do you write letters to Alejandro,” you would answer “Yes,” or “Yes, I write to him,” and not answer “Yes, I write letters to Alejandro.” While you don’t continue to repeat the name, it is important that you always remember to indicate to whom the le or les refers initially, and thus avoid any confusion.
This extra clarification is only necessary with le and les. With all of the other indirect object pronouns, there is no possibility of confusion. It is obvious that me refers to “me,” te to “you” (singular, familiar), nos to “us,” and os to “you” (plural, familiar, used in Spain but not common in Latin America). In spite of the fact that the extra clarification is not necessary in these cases, you will occasionally see it included, in the forms of a mí, a ti, a nosotros, and a vosotros. It is sometimes used just for emphasis.
The indirect object pronoun is normally placed before the verb, which, if we translate literally, sounds a little strange to someone used to speaking English. For instance, if we look at the sentence Juan me escribe cartas, literally—word for word—we are saying “Juan to me writes letters.” Although this might sound awkward to you, it is very important that you remember to place the indirect object pronoun before the verb, otherwise, your Spanish will sound strange to the person you are talking to (and be incorrect)!
There are a couple of exceptions to the above placement rule, one of which you will learn now; you will see the other exceptions later on in this course. If you are using the present progressive tense, you may place the indirect object pronoun either before or after the verb phrase. As you will note in the examples below, if you choose to place the indirect object pronoun after instead of before, it is attached directly to the present participle and you will need to remember to place an accent mark. There is no difference in meaning in these options. Whether you place the indirect object pronoun before or after the present progressive, you will be saying the same thing.
| indirect object pronoun placed before verb | indirect object pronoun placed after verb |
|---|---|
| Mi padre me está hablando. |
Mi padre está hablándome. |
| ¿Paco nos está diciendo la verdad? |
¿Paco está diciéndonos la verdad? |
| No, les está mintiendo. |
No, está mintiéndoles. |
