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Hello:

I feel so blessed to discover your blog. I need guidance understanding which verbs usually require the indirect pronouns " le & les" in the context outside of "gustar-like" verbs. I am pretty good to associate "decir" and "dar" with the pronouns but can't seem to remember any others.

In the context of indirect objects, usually you're talking about verbs that require a recipient

They aren't acted upon directly (usually) as that requires direct objects, but indirect objects often involve things like sending, giving, speaking, taking from, granting... things like that

For example escribir una carta "to write a letter" uses una carta as the direct object; escribir(le) una carta (a alguien) is then "to write a letter (to someone)"

The person who receives the action/result of the verb [writing a letter] is your indirect object there

I try to say indirect objects are often "to whom or for whom something is done"

Here are some verbs that usually take indirect objects (contextually)

dar(le) = to give to someone

dar(le) de comer = to give someone food, to feed someone

dar(le) la palabra = to give someone (your) word, to promise

regalar(le) = to give to someone as a gift, to gift someone

decir(le) = to say to someone contar(le) = to tell to someone / to recount to someone [like telling a story]

comprar(le) = to buy for someone

vender(le) = to sell to someone

escribir(le) = to write to someone

leer(le) = to read to someone

cantar(le) = to sing for/to someone

enseñar(le) = to teach someone / to show someone, to point out to someone

mostrar(le) = to show someone

cocinar(le) = to cook for someone

prometer(le) = to promise (to) someone

jurar(le) = to swear/make an oath to someone

proveer(le) = to provide to someone

hablar(le) = to talk to someone

enviar(le) = to send to someone mandar(le) = to send to someone

aconsejar(le) = to advise to someone

sugerir(le) = to suggest to someone

recomendar(le) = to recommend to someone

pedir(le) = to request of someone / to ask someone for a favor

exigir(le) = to make a demand of someone

otorgar(le) = to grant/bestow to someone

preparar(le) = to prepare/make for someone

saludar(le) = to greet someone, to say hello

dar(le) las gracias = to give thanks to someone agradecer(le) = to give thanks to someone

traer(le) = to bring to someone llevar(le) = to bring to someone

tirar(le) = to throw to someone

lanzar(le) = to throw at someone [also lanzar(le) un hechizo is like "to cast a spell on someone"]

disparar(le) = to shoot (at) someone

echar(le) = to throw to someone [also regionally used for other expressions] echar(le) de menos = to miss someone [Spain] echar(le) la culpa = to blame someone

extrañar(le) = to miss someone [Latin America; occasionally it means "to cause bewilderment" or "to surprise"]

caer(le) bien = to like someone caer(le) mal = to dislike someone [sort of like "to rub some

Again, many of these could be either direct or indirect object verbs; like "bringing something to someone" is a mix of both

Also! Many verbs implying emotions will use indirect objects; they're a bit similar to gustar type verbs in that sense since it's "to inspire (an emotion) in someone else":

sorprender(le) = to cause surprise

agradar(le) = to make someone happy, to gladden

entristecer(le) = to make someone sad, to sadden

But you can also use poner with this - le pone triste "it makes him/her sad" for example. Usually with emotions it's reflexive "to get sad" being ponerse triste, but you can sometimes see it with indirect objects like "it makes them sad"

This all depends on the situation, usually these verbs have a direct object and an indirect object... like dar las gracias "to give thanks" has las gracias as the direct object, but then who you're thanking is indirect

Also worth pointing out that depending on where you live, le might be used in certain situations that other countries wouldn't use it in

As an example ayudar "to help" often takes direct objects, but it could be indirect too... it's sort of like if you're saying "to help" vs. "to lend aid" since it's understood what you mean but certain places/countries will use direct objects or indirect objects

Very very similar is conocer "to know" or "to meet" - depending on where you are you might say es un placer conocerlo / es un placer conocerla "it's a pleasure to meet you"... OR es un placer conocerle "it's a pleasure to meet you"

This is assuming you're using polite usted

Informal tú would be te ayudo or es un placer conocerte and because the te is both a direct and indirect object it doesn't matter whether it's direct or indirect because it's the same te

This sort of linguistic debate of leísmo [the use of le when direct objects are people] is a common one in Spanish, but in general Spain tends to use le for direct objects that are people to afford them personhood... and most places in Latin America tend toward loísmo which uses traditional direct objects so as to not confuse the direct/indirect cases

But really this is academic and even Spanish-speakers aren't in total agreement, and it only applies to times when the direct object is a person [and again it is a DIRECT object]... this doesn't count for the verbs like those above which take indirect objects when something is to/for them

[You can also probably find more info if you look up verbos con el complemento indirecto or looking up el dativo which is linguistics code for indirect objects]

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Hi, what's the difference between these sentences?

The first sentence is just the indirect object

The second is the indirect + direct object

First sentence reads like "I'm giving the book to my mother". Second one is "I'm giving it to my mother"

The indirect objects [me, te, le, les, nos, os] show who the recipient is; it's le for mi madre

The direct objects [me, te, lo/la, los/las, nos, os] show the actual object - which would be the libro. In the second sentence, lo takes the place of el libro so it's an "it"

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I’ve seen your anon answer of explanations for se, but this instance is tripping me up. In ‘esto se lo dedico’ I understand the meaning close to ‘this one’s for you’ and such, but could you please explain what is the se doing here, what is its function?

Ah, okay this is a weird special case you're seeing

That isn't a typical se, it's a replacement for an indirect object

When you have indirect objects [me, te, le, les, nos, os] + direct objects [me, te, lo / la, los / las, nos, os] you have a small rule when you have 3rd person + 3rd person

...

In other words, if you're trying to write le or les + lo, la, los, las the indirect object will change to se. This is because le/les sounds really strange with lo, la, los, las... and a word like lelo/a for example means "silly". It has something to do with a "this would sound weird, so we changed it" tendency in Spanish:

Le dedico el poema. = I dedicate the poem to him/her/usted. Les dedico el poema. = I dedicate the poem to them/ustedes. Lo dedico. = I dedicate it. Se lo dedico (a él, a ella, a usted). = I dedicate it to them [singular]. Se lo dedico (a ellos, a ellas, a ustedes). = I dedicate it to them [plural].

Similarly on a radio, if you ask for a song the expression is poner la canción "to put on a song", so you might see someone say se la pongo which is roughly "here you go", but more literally "I'm putting it on for you (usted)"... but you could also see te la pongo normally "for you" informal

In summation:

Your direct object is the thing, and the indirect object is to whom/for whom... so if both are 3rd person, that's when you see the se take over for indirect objects

The le/les and indirect objects takes the place of 3rd person singular and plural respectively, and in English we usually use "them" unless we know specifically "to whom"; in Spanish it can be the same

Because the se could be for literally any 3rd person + direct object, you might see the recipient specified with a (alguien)

As an example:

Se lo dedico a mi padre. = I dedicate it to my father. Se lo dedico a mis padres. = I dedicate it to my parents.

The a (alguien) is optional, only preferred if it's going to be ambiguous. Without context you'd understand it as "I dedicate it to them" where just like English that se as "them" in this case could be singular or plural

Similarly with that poner la canción example... se la pongo could be "I'm playing it for them" singular or even a "you" (usted), or it could be "I'm playing it for them" plural or "you all" (ustedes).

For any other person - me, te, nos, os - there's no change

Me lo dedicó. = He/She dedicated it to me. Te la pongo. = I'll play it for you. Nos manda el paquete. = He/She is sending us the package. Nos lo manda. = He/She is sending it to us. Os digo que... = I'm telling you all that... [os = vosotros/vosotras which is Spain, specifically] Os lo dije. = I told you all. / That's what I told you. / I told you (all) so.

Additional information:

Anatomy of Spanish: Indirect Objects

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sorry, yes, it should have been Les! My doubt was more on why it is le and not me, or - why it is the third person needed... i can't wrap my head around it!

- fearful follower

It's a little confusing to explain

First, temer used to not have the indirect object. In some places, you don't see it with le or les ...but temer is considered an intransitive verb, meaning it doesn't often take a direct object - it takes indirect objects

This is where it gets less confusing, hopefully

When we say "afraid of", in Spanish it's interpreted as "to have fear for/of", as if a thing inspires fear in us

Many times feelings you cause in other people are done with indirect objects - the implication is that a certain thing or things or people cause that emotion within you, it evokes that feeling

temer is unique in that it's not a gustar type verb, it's... like a verb of "opinion", so expressions of "to take someone for (being something)" are also done with indirect objects

temer is another such construction

So, le temo a la oscuridad "I'm afraid of the dark" is more literally "I hold fear of the dark"; and no les temo a los tiburones "I'm not afraid of sharks" is more literally "sharks have no terror for me"

And something like te temo "I fear you" is like "I think of you as scary" [but because me, te, and nos are also used in direct objects you can't always tell whether it's direct or indirect objects at first]

But again, this is a more modern construction - temer didn't always take the indirect object, and in some places it still doesn't

And some places use singular le in place of plural les

So it's a whole thing, don't worry if it's confusing. I think it confuses most people

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I am loving your site. Wish there was a better way to search the archives. Do verbs like gustar/encantar (I know mucho gusto) ever used in conjugations other than pronominal third person?

So mucho gusto is using el gusto "pleasure" as a noun

But yes, you can use gustar/encantar in other conjugations

If you're using indirect objects, it's the object that's actually conjugating things; me gusta is translated as "I like it" but it's more literally "it pleases me" or "it gives me joy"

So te gusto is "you like me"... but literally "I give you joy", and me gustas is "I like you" but literally "you give me joy"

That's why it can be confusing for people

Most verbs with indirect objects work like that: me preocupas is literally "you worry me", me molestas "you annoy me", me importas "you matter to me", me interesas "you interest me", me das miedo "you scare me", me das asco "you disgust me"

With gustar they tell you up and down in school not to use gustar on its own, but I have seen native speakers say gusto "I like it" or gustas "you like it"

I don't know if that's universal, my friend that used to say that a lot was from Puerto Rico... but it happens

She loved to say gusta by itself to mean something like “that’s cool”

As for encantar you definitely can use it like a regular verb though it means something different

When used with indirect objects, encantar means "to really like" because it's related to "charm" or "to find charming"

But its basic function is "to enchant" or "to charm" sort of like magic. So if you're seeing encantar used regularly it's often in the context of witches or magic like encantar a alguien is "to charm someone" or possibly "to cast a spell on someone"

You'll often see it in fantasy things as like "to put a spell on an object", like charms or incantations [encantar = is related to "incantation" in its etymology]

And that is a more basic construction with subject verb object, rather than the indirect object construction

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Spanish beginner here, I'm working on gustar and I can't figure out the syntax of the example, "le gustan los gatos."

Its syntax would be "IOP, verb, article, direct object."

Is it possible for sentences not to have a subject, or is los gatos not a direct object at all?

In this context, the syntax is: "Indirect object pronoun, verb, subject"

The way that gustar works is that it's literally "the cats are pleasing to him/her", or "(the) cats bring them joy"

With verbs that work like gustar, the actual subject is what seems like an object to us in English. In other words we say "They like cats"... but in Spanish this sentence is "Cats bring them joy". So the subject in Spanish is los gatos while in an English translation los gatos would be the object

Put a different way, indirect object phrases can read like this:

Me gusta el libro. = I like the book. [lit. "the book gives me joy"] Me gustan los libros. = I like books. [lit. "the books give me joy"]

Eso no me importa. = I don't care about that. [lit. "that does not matter to me"] Me importas tú. = I care about you. / You matter to me. [lit. "you matter/are important to me"] Me importan ellos/ellas. = I care about them. / They matter to me.

Me da miedo. = It's scary. [lit. "it scares me"] Me das miedo. = You're scary. / You're scaring me. Me dan miedo. = They scare me. La película da miedo. = The movie is scary. La película me da miedo. = The movie is scary (to me). / The movie scares me. Me dan miedo las películas de horror. = Horror movies scare me. Me dan miedo los aviones. = Planes scare me. / Planes are scary to me. Te doy miedo. = I'm scary (to you). / I scare you. ¿Te doy miedo? = Do I scare you? / Am I scary to you?

Me gustas. = I like you. [lit. "you give me joy"] Te gusto. = You like me. [lit. "I give you joy"]

It takes a lot of practice, and honestly it confuses me a lot too

But I find it easier to make sense of with 3rd person like me gusta or me gustan

(There are also native speakers who use gustar as if it were a normal verb; like saying gusta to mean "that's cool" without the indirect object. I wouldn't recommend it for academic Spanish, but it's the indirect object and how they get translated into English that's tripping you up)

To answer your second question: Most sentences in Spanish have subjects, although sometimes they are omitted in grammar.

It's like saying soy "I am" instead of yo soy "I am"; where both are acceptable, but in everyday Spanish the yo isn't always necessary since soy could only refer to yo in conjugations

That being said, in your particular example, los gatos are in fact the subject and there's no direct object

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Hi there =) I read that you don't want to do homework for people, I get it, and this is fairly easy probably... very beginner level Spanish but with all the online lessons I don't get it. How/when/why do I know when to use a word like 'decírtelo'. I get that the te refers to the fact I'm using the second person singular and the lo stands for it. But I can't figure out when to use it or how to build it if that makes sense. Thank you

Oh that’s totally not a problem. When I say I don’t want to do people’s homework I usually mean I don’t want to write their essays for them.

So, what you’re seeing with decírtelo is a combination of three things: the infinitive form decir, plus te, and then a direct object lo

Or in other words, combining direct and indirect objects with a verb in some way.

But I will say before beginning that the accent marks appear because of something extremely complicated known as esdrújula which is not really a beginner topic. It’s really: “Why does that word have an accent mark?”

Basically that whole thing is how you decide if and where to put in accent marks.

Saying decirte “telling you” would have no accent, but then you add decírtelo and it does because you added a new particle to the word but the emphasis was always on the “cir” and without the accent mark people might put it on the “te” instead.

Again, it’s very complicated especially for beginners so just be aware of it but don’t worry if you don’t know it.

There are three ways that you see this:

Infinitive form [which is often optional]

Gerund or progressive form

Affirmative commands

#1 - Infinitive form

The infinitive form is the textbook dictionary form a verb. It’s just unconjugated.

You would use this either because you have a conjugated verb + an unconjugated verb, usually with a helping verb that’s already conjugated like poder, querer, or debe… or when you’re using the verb as a noun like “the action or result of a verb”

When you have two verbs together, one is conjugated and the one that follows (or sometimes the multiple ones that follow) are in infinitive form. And when you add direct or indirect objects, you normally have the option to put them all in front of the conjugated verb… OR you can attach them all to the verb in the infintiive

Te lo digo. = I’m telling you. [one conjugated verb]

Tengo que decírtelo. = I have to tell you (it). [one conjugated verb + unconjugated verb]

Te lo tengo que decir. = I have to tell you (it). [alternative form]

And since you might be in a position where you could use multiple verbs here’s one:

Quiero poder decírtelo. = I want to be able to tell you (it).

It would sound really strange adding all of that in front. I’m not sure if it’s possible. Like, it would make sense but it would sound very strange.

Most people put the things at the end, particularly English speakers since in English we tend to put our objects at the end and it feels more natural.

Since infinitive can sometimes be used by itself I’ll show you sort of what that looks like:

Decírtelo es difícil. = Telling you (it) is hard.

Querer decírtelo y poder decírtelo son cosas muy distintas. = Wanting to tell you (it) and being able to tell you are very different things.

#2 - Gerund/Progressive form

The gerund is the “-ing” form of a verb. It’s a verbal form, not exactly conjugated, but it’s not the same as the infinitive.

These normally come in with estar, or a verb of motion like ir, seguir, or andar.

Me lo sigues diciendo. = You keep telling me (it). / You continue telling me (it).

Sigues diciéndomelo. = You keep telling me (it). / You continue telling me (it).

Again, sometimes you might see a helping verb in there somewhere:

Tienes que seguir diciéndomelo. = You have to keep telling me (it).

Puedes seguir diciéndomelo. = You can kee telling me (it).

#3 - Affirmative Commands

Negative commands are worded differently, but this is somewhat more complicated.

First you need to know how to conjugate commands. With commands, there’s tú command for informal, usted command for formal, and a plural command if you’re talking to multiple people.

Second you need to get the indirect object right because it could be different.

And then you need to get the direct object right because what you’re talking about might be masculine or feminine depending on context.

So for example, say that the lo in this is el regalo “gift”, while the la here is la carta “letter”:

Dámelo. = Give it to me. [informal]

Démelo. = Give it to me. [formal]Dénmelo. = Give it to me. [plural]

Dámela. = Give it to me. [informal]Démela. = Give it to me. [formal]Dénmela. = Give it to me. [plural]

There’s a lot of weirdness to unpack in all of that but it has to do with esdrújula and that’s also weird.

Side Note: When an indirect object is 3rd person [him/her/usted or them/you all] + direct object, the indirect object turns to se so that you don’t have to use le and les and trip yourself up

pedir un favor = to ask for a favorpedirte un favor = to ask a favor of you / to ask you a favorpedirle un favor = to ask a favor of him/her/Youpedirles un favor = to ask a favor of them/you all

pedírtelo = to ask you for (it) [lit. “to request it of you”]

pedírselo (a él) = to ask him for itpedírselo (a ella) = to ask her for itpedírselo (a usted) = to ask you for it [formal]pedírselo (a ellos / ellas) = to ask them for itpedírselo (a ustedes) = to ask you all for it

Spain also has vosotros which is like “you all” but informal… so like “y’all”

That would be pediros un favor and then pedíroslo

Commands can sometimes be reflexive so you might see them with accent marks too: levántate [tú], levántese [usted], and levántense [plural] which all mean “get up!” in different levels of formality.

There are cases where a command might have a direct object and also be reflexive:

ponerse la ropa = to put on clothes

Ponte el abrigo. = Put your coat on.Ponte la chaqueta. = Put your jacket on.Ponte los zapatos. = Put your shoes on.Ponte las medias. = Put your socks on. [la media is a regional word for “sock”, you’re probably used to el calcetín for “sock” and los calcetines for plural]

Póntelo. = Put it on.Póntela. = Put it on.Póntelos. = Put them on.Póntelas. = Put them on.

Again, poner is an irregular verb.

You’d get the same kind of construction with quitarse la ropa “to take off clothes”:

Quítatelo. = Take it off.Quítatela. = Take it off.Quítatelos. = Take them off.Quítatelas. = Take them off.

There are other smaller issues with this and more itty bitty details, but this is the basic gist.

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whats the difference between saying; "a mí me gusta _______" and "me gusta _______"?

Using a mí is for added emphasis.

Me gusta el libro. = I like the book.

A mí me gusta el libro. = I’m the one who likes the book.

You can also use the a there to say something like “well I do!”

For example:

-No me gusta la comida japonesa. = I don’t like Japanese food.-Pues a mí me gusta. = Well, I like it. / Well, I do.

You also use it when you’re supplying a right answer, or correcting someone:

-A tu familia le gusta la música clásica, ¿verdad? = Your family likes classical music, right?-A mis padres sí (les gusta), pero a mí no (me gusta). = My parents do, but I don’t.

It’s really all about emphasis, and it’s more emphatic when you’re using a mí, a ti, a nosotros because the mí only applies to me (that is, yo)

It takes on the meaning of “I am the one who likes the thing”

Where the a can be very necessary is when it would be 3rd person and it specifies who it refers to:

Le gusta la comida japonesa. = He/She/You like(s) Japanese food.

-A ella le gusta. = She likes it.-A él le gusta. = He likes it.-A usted le gusta. = You like it.

Les gusta la comida italiana. = He/She/You like(s) Italian food.

-A ellas les gusta. = They (f) like it.-A ellos les gusta = They (m, m+f) like it.-A ustedes les gusta. = You all like it.

Because the le and les apply to multiple pronouns, using the a is being more specific, and identifying who you’re talking out when it’s vague or the person you’re talking about is unclear.

But like before you can also use the a to be emphatic or correct someone; a ella le gusta mucho “she really likes it” for example.

Other common ways this happens:

-A ellas les gustan las películas de horror, ¿no? = Do they (f) like horror movies?-A Ana sí le gustan, pero a Victoria no le gustan en absoluto. = Ana likes them, but Victoria doesn’t like them at all.

-¿(A ustedes) les gusta jugar al ajedrez? = Do you guys like to play chess? -A mí me gusta, pero a ellos no (les gusta). = I do, but they don’t.-¿En serio? Creía que (a ti) no te gustaba. = Really? I thought you didn’t like it.-No sé jugar bien pero sí que me gusta. = I don’t know how to play very well but I do like it.

There are also times when you see the a used with direct objects too, but it’s still very much about emphasis. Saying a mí is a bit like saying ME or bolding/italicizing the “me” in a sentence like, “I can’t believe you’d do that to me of all people!”

It’s driven by context and the tone/emphasis you want to use.

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