No le entendí

Question

In this case why is "le" used instead of "lo" or "te"?

Answer 1

Actually, there is no leísmo here -the sentence is perfect grammatically speaking. The direct object is just implicit, and the person is still the indirect object.

No le entendí (lo que dijo).

If you said "No lo entendí", and the "lo" refers to a person, then you'd be saying that you don't understand the guy himself, not what he says.

But I can say "No lo entendí" to mean "I didn't understand it," yes? - --Mariana--, Sep 20, 2010

Yes - Jeremias, Sep 20, 2010

Answer 2

Good question... Le isn't usually used as a direct object, but the meaning doesn't allow a direct object. So your surmisals are appropriate - either te or lo/la would make sense.

Context?

J

Thanx for the input - r2rsom, Sep 19, 2010

Answer 3

HI, welcome to the forum

jeremías is right, however, this is an accepted form of making a mistake, jeje, called leísmo.

Lo is substituted by le in some sentences when it is the direct object.

I was just going to say 'what's wrong with that?' it's just 'I didn't understand' ... haha - margaretbl, Sep 19, 2010

Thanks Heidita, I just looked up leísmo. I never encountered it before, as all my exposure to Spanish is via Latin America. Thanks. - Jeremias, Sep 19, 2010

Is this mistake made in Just Spain or in Latin America too? - r2rsom, Sep 19, 2010

It's not a mistake... It's a dialect, where lo is replaced by le, for a singular male direct object which would require the personal a if the actual object were added to the sentence in addition to the indirect object. Google leismo for a better explana - Jeremias, Sep 19, 2010

Answer 4

So good to have an intelligent first question rather than the usual ungrammatical sentence where the question isnt even clear.

Answer 5

what is entendí mean in english

Kimmy did you read the answers posted? it is the preterite (past) of entender - to understand - margaretbl, Sep 24, 2010