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Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns are words used to say whom or what will be affected by a verb or action. They are words like ME in the phrase ME GUSTA (I like to…). These pronouns are very useful for a lot of different topics in the language. Both direct and indirect pronouns are often called reflexive pronouns in Spanish. They are not the same as reflexive verbs but they are related as we will see in this lesson, which will also present a chart with these pronouns and explain some simple rules to use them in real life. Let’s start…
What are reflexive pronouns in Spanish? - The unstressed pronouns
They are a special kind of pronouns in the language that unlike pronouns like “Yo, tú…” do not refer to a subject but an object, and more importantly they play the role of direct and indirect object pronouns. If you already checked , you may already know that a reflexive verb is simply a very in infinitive plus a reflexive pronoun, e.g. VERTIRSE. The words in purple in the picture below are reflexive pronouns in Spanish as used with the verb AMAR.
Reflexive pronouns and verbs - Pronouns and reflexive verbs
Reflexive pronouns may play the role of a direct or an indirect object in a sentence. They are always placed before the verb they are related to, like ME and LAS in these two examples: (Yo) me llamo Alex (My name is Alex) and Las encontré en el parque (I found them in the park). They are often matched to, for example Yo -> ME, Tú -> TE and so on.
Person Pronoun Meaning 1st Me Me 1st Nos Us 2nd Te, Se You 2nd Os, Se Us 3rd Le, la, le, se Her, him, you(formal),it 3rd Los, Las, Les, Se Them, you(formal)
The grammar rules for direct object pronouns in Spanish
“Los pronombres reflexivos” play the role of direct object pronouns when they refer to things or places. Direct object pronouns are a variation of subject pronouns, something called MODO ACUSATIVO or accusative form in the language, being “LO, LOS, LA, LAS, SE” the ones used more regularly. These pronouns are always used as a reference to an object that was mentioned before in the sentence, though the one to use will depend on the number of objects and their gender as well. For instance, the pronoun LO in the sentence “El televisor está encendido ¿Lo puedes apagar?” refers to the television, a singular, masculine noun. On the other hand, for a singular feminine noun like BILLETERA(wallet), we must use LA: La encontré (I found it). Therefore, we just need to be careful to use the right reflexive pronoun for the object or objects you are referring to. Also, notice that in these examples all the pronouns are referring to objects, not people. Last, SE is a special and common reflexivepronoun in Spanish, often used in an impersonal way meaning BY ITSELF like in the sentences “La película se terminó” (The movie is over).
Examples with direct object pronouns in Spanish El televisor está encendido. ¿ Lo puedes apagar? The TV is on. Can you turn it off? Yo perdí mi billetera pero la encontré después I lost my wallet, but I found it later. ¿Viste los juguetes? No los encontramos Did you see the toys? We couldn’t find them Tengo las llaves. Las encontré en la cocina I have the keys. I found them in the kitchen. El carro se dañó. The car broke down
Grammar quiz: Direct object pronouns - Los pronombres de objeto directo Please wait while the activity loads. If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled. If loading fails, click here to try again This short quiz will test if yo understood the rules for reflexive pronouns when they replace an object. Complete each statement with the correct word. You will get an interesting tip every time you find a correct answer. Press START when you are ready. Start Congratulations - you have completed Grammar quiz: Direct object pronouns - Los pronombres de objeto directo.You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.We recommend you to %%RATING%% Your answers are highlighted below. Question 1 ¿Ves ese libro de matemáticas? ¿Me ____ puedes pasar? A Los B Lo C Las Question 1 Explanation: First, let’s identify the object in the question which is: “un libro de matemática” (a math book). This is asingular, masculine noun so according to the rule we must use “Lo”. The remaining choices do not agree in gender and number with the object we are talking about. Notice that if we only said “¿Me puedes pasar?”, it would mean “Can you cross me?” and that does not make sense at all. Question 2 Hay comida en la cocina. _______ tienes que calentar en el microondas. A Se B Lo C La Question 2 Explanation: “Comida” (food) is a singular feminine noun and also the direct object of the first sentence. To know that “comida” is the object of the sentence we ask ourselves the question “¿Qué es lo que part of the sentence?”, which in this case would be “¿Qué es lo que hay en la cocina?”. Then, the reflexive pronoun LA is the only one that agrees in gender and number with “la comida”. Question 3 Las estrellas son fascinantes. ______ puedes ver bien desde este lugar. A Lo B Los C Las Question 3 Explanation: “¿Qué es lo que es facinante?” – Las Estrellas” (stars). Estrellas is a plural, femininenoun, therefore we must use LAS the way “them” would be used in English. If we were talking about a plural, masculine object we would use “los” and it also means “them”. Question 4 Ellos coleccionan objetos y luego _____ venden. A lo B los C las Question 4 Explanation: Here the word “objetos” is a plural, masculine noun so we must use “los” to refer to them. Question 5 La computadora __ apagó de repente esta tarde. A Las B La C Se Question 5 Explanation: In this case the only reflexive pronoun that fits the blank is “se” because we are talking about an impersonal action. No one turned off the computer, it turned itself off according to the sentence and in order to say that in Spanish we use “se”. You could create simple sentences with this structure, for example: “La luz se apagó” (The lights turned off) or “El libro se cayó de la silla” (The book fell from the chair) Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get ResultsThere are 5 questions to complete. ← List → Return Shaded items are complete. 1 2 3 4 5 End Return You have completed questions question Your score is Correct Wrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score on Quiz Attempted Questions Correct Attempted Questions Wrong Questions Not Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Hint Time allowed minutes seconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All done review this lesson… continue studying this lesson! review this lesson and find more important points. Studying a lesson related to this topic may be useful too. continue learning! Good work! keep up the good work! Perfect!
The grammar rules for indirect object pronouns in Spanish
Reflexive pronouns play the role of indirect object pronouns when they are related to people. Indirect object pronouns are another variation of subject pronouns called MODO DATIVO or dative form. These pronouns are normally used to make clear who we are referring to. The first example in the chart below will use the indirect object pronoun ME which corresponds to ME in English. In this case I am the one asking for help so I use ME to ask ¿Me puedes ayudar?, but if I were offering help to you, I would say ¿TE puedo ayudar? because TE is the corresponding pronoun for YOU in this case. The same rule can be applied in the rest of the examples, simply making sure the pronoun agrees in gender and number with the people you are referring to.
Examples with indirect object pronouns in Spanish ¿ Me puedes ayudar? Could you help me? ¿ Tú te llamas John? Is your name John? ¿Usted se baña todos los días? Do you take a shower every day? La ví ayer I saw her yesterday Ella se viste sola She gets dressed by herself ¿ Nos puedes ayudar? Could you help us? ¿Ustedes se encuentran bien? Are you doing well? ¿Vosotros os encontráis bien? Are you doing well? Ellas son sus hijas. Yo las cuidaré. They are her daughters. I will take care of them Ellos se encontraron en el parque. They met in the park
Grammar quiz: Indirect object pronouns - Los pronombres de objeto indirecto Please wait while the activity loads. If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled. If loading fails, click here to try again Welcome to the second quiz. This time we will practice reflexive pronouns acting as indirect objects. Try to compare the statements with the examples provided so you can figure out the answers. Finally, don't worry if you can´t memorize how to use each pronoun as it is very likely you will see them again in other lessons for sure. Press "START" to begin the test. Start Congratulations - you have completed Grammar quiz: Indirect object pronouns - Los pronombres de objeto indirecto.You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.We recommend you to %%RATING%% Your answers are highlighted below. Question 1 Disculpe, ¿______ puede decir qué hora es? A Me B Te C Se Question 1 Explanation: Since weare using the verb PODER, then this is a request. If we look at the form of “poder” we see that it is conjugated for “usted” so we would think that SE is the right choice, but the question would not make sense. In this case we have to use the object pronoun “me” to say “¿Me puede...?” (Could you… me?). However, if it were about a group of people, then the question should be “¿Nos puede decir qué hora es?” Question 2 Hoy voy a un concierto de Jason y ____ pediré un autógrafo. A me B le C nos Question 2 Explanation: Well, to identify the indirect object pronoun in a statement we ask ourselves the question “¿A quién part of the sentence?” (To whom...?), that is “¿A quién le pediré un autógrafo? – A Jason”. This means Jason is the indirect object of this sentence. Now if we go back to the chart, the pronoun that corresponds to a singular, masculine noun is “le” so this is the right choice. “Me pediré un autografo” would mean “I will ask myself an autograph” and that doesn’t make sense.Question 3 They are singers and love ______ improvise. A I B C them you Question 3 Explanation: For "Them" we could use "will", "the", "will" and "the". With the verb "love" Usually we use "me" when it Refers to me, just one person, "you" when it Refers to him or her and "them" when we want to address acerca Several people. This Means That "I love ..." is the right choice. If we omit the pronoun here or in any of the other sentences, They would sound awkward and the other person would not know who you are talking about. Question 4 Mario received an award and he liked _____. A C B les you like Question 4 Explanation: LE is the only pronoun That matches the proper noun "Mario". LE is used in esta sentence to Emphasize That Mario liked the prize. "Liking" That is another verb will be used formally Often DESPITE sentences about not being a reflexive verb itself, e.g .: "I like ..." (I like), "like us" (We like) and so on. The pronoun LO, Which Also means "him", can be used inother sentences, for example: "Where you saw Mario? - I saw it in the "Question 5 Park Boys won the championship and they ______emocionaron much. A B C them you Question 5 Explanation: "They touched you" or "They touched them" do not make sense here. When we want to say something like "they got angry" Usually we say using the reflexive pronoun "You" "They were angry." Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items You have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results There are five questions to complete. List ← → Return Shaded items are complete. 1 2 3 4 May End Return You have completed questions question Your score is Correct Wrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score on Quiz Attempted Questions Questions Correct Wrong Not Attempted Questions Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Time allowed Hint minutesseconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All done review this lesson… continue studying this lesson! review this lesson and find more important points. Studying a lesson related to this topic may be useful too. continue learning! Good work! keep up the good work! Perfect!
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