Direct/Indirect Object question

Question

My book has the following sentence:

La familia no va a acompañarle a México porque los hijos tienen que terminar el año escolar y su esposa tiene que quedar en casa para cuidar a los hijos.

His family is not going with him to Mexico because his children have to finish the school year and his wife has to remain at home to take care of the children.

Why is it "acompañarle" and not "acompañarlo"?

I can't figure out why "he" is the indirect object...

esposa :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 1, 2010

Answer 1

Because using "le" for men is acceptable.

His thread might help you.

Thank you all SO much. I thought I was going crazy and no longer knew my DO's from my IO's. - Echoline, Nov 1, 2010

Answer 2

I would say it's a case of leísmo, a very common substitution of le for lo when referring to a man or boy as the direct object. It's considered polite in many cases.

:) I would say that "le" is correct, and that the substitution of **le** for **lo** can be undestood as a case of "loísmo". - cogumela, Nov 1, 2010

Kevin, this was making me crazy....I have never heard of this. So can I forget about "lo" all together?? - Echoline, Nov 1, 2010

No. You can only use le when it's one male person. Otherwise you have to use lo for masculine objects. - KevinB, Nov 1, 2010

Answer 3

"le" is used as a direct object when it is talking about "him" where "lo" is used for a masculine noun. It is used this way in Spain more often then in Mexico or Latin America.

Thank you so much. - Echoline, Nov 1, 2010