Question about indirect objects..

Question

This is as much an English Grammar question as a Spanish one!

Le hablo a él todos los días. I speak to him every day.

Acording to Living Language - Ulitimate Spanish Beginner - intermediate (the old edition with the black cover) the "le" here is the indirect object pronoun.. but I only count two things.. I - Subject.. Him - Object

Why is "him" an indirect object here?

Same problem with the other two examples:

Voy a hablarle a ella manana. I am going to speak to her tomorrow.

Estamos hablándole a Ud. ahora. We are talking to you now.

One more thing:

What does this mean Le falta a ella tiempo.

She is missing time? Is that like she is late? She is missing the weather?

Answer 1

Hi Rabbit,

This is a case in which the direct object is understood. Remember, directs answer "who?" or "what?" and indirects tell you "to whom" or "for whom".

In English..."I speak to him." I speak {words} to him. The direct object is understood.

Lots of verbs of communication are like this, with "words" or "message" being the understood direct object. "I tell him [words]" - "Le cuento" or "Le digo"...."I write him [words] - "Le escribo"...."I ask him [words] - "Le pregunto".

I hope this has helped to clear up your confusion.

"Faltar" is a verb that operates like "gustar". "Le falta tiempo" means literally "Time is lacking to her" or "She is out of time" or "She is running short on time" or "She has no time left".

Ah ha! Great explination, thanks. They really should have said something like this in the book! Though I should have understood the "faltar" sentence myself. Kicking myself! - rabbitwho, Oct 12, 2010

Answer 2

The big clue as to whether it's an indirect object is that it has "to" or "for" in front of it.

I give the flowers to her

Subject (pronoun, in this case) = who did the giving = I
Direct object = what was given = the flowers
Indirect object (pronoun, again) = to whom were they given = her

Le hablo a él todos los días = I talk to him every day

Who did I talk TO = indirect object = him

Same with the others. Falta is a little different in Spanish. It's like gusta.

Le falta a ella tiempo = Time is missing to her, literally, or She doesn't have time, in backward English.

You are right about "to" being a clue, but at least in Spanish it isn't enough. There can be direct objects with "to" in front of it, eg: "Invita a mi amigo". - bill1111, Oct 12, 2010

True, but it doesn't translate to "to" in English. In fact, it doesn't translate into anything at all. It's just part of the phrase. - KevinB, Oct 12, 2010

Answer 3

I don't think it matters that there is only one object pronoun. I think the "to" him is the clue to it being an indirect object and not direct.