Can an Indirect Object be an object?

Question

I am going through the lession on indirect object pronouns, and in all of the examples the indirect object is a person. For example,

El le tiro la pelota a ella -El le tiro la pelota

Can an Indirect Object be a thing, such as in the following sentence? Maria put the ball in the bin Maria le puso la pelota en el balde Maria le puso la pelota

If so, did I write it correctly in spanish, using the 3rd person Indirect Object Pronoun "le"?

Thanks everybody!

Answer 1

Can an Indirect Object be a thing, such as in the following sentence? Maria put the ball in the bin Maria le puso la pelota en el balde Maria le puso la pelota

The indirect object can perfectly be a thing, and it can easily go with intransitive verbs, but only if the verb is constructed with this pronoun. In your example, "in the bin" is not an object, but a locative phrase which can be added to practically any verb, and it cannot be replaced (or accept) pronouns.

María puso la pelota en el balde.

Indirect objects can only take the preposition a. Examples of sentences where the indirect object is a thing:

Le arreglé la cerradura a la puerta.

Le puse pilas nuevas a la radio.

Examples of indirect objects that are things, with intransitive verbs:

Le queda muy bien las cortinas a la habitación.

Al motor le falta aceite.

Answer 2

Complemento_indirecto

El objeto indirecto o complemento indirecto es un constituyente sintáctico regido por un verbo transitivo, generalmente no obligatorio, cuya interpretación semántica o referente designado es un receptor, benefactor o meta de la acción verbal expresada por el verbo. De forma simple se puede decir que corresponde al beneficiario o perjudicado por la acción del sujeto (caracterización semántica), y suele ser más a menudo persona que cosa.

Él le tiro la pelota a ella -Él le tiro la pelota

Maria put the ball in the bin..... Maria le puso la pelota en el balde.... Maria le puso la pelota

María puso la pelota en ello él.

However, a sentence like "I gave it all of my effort".??

Is often shotened to Di todo mi esfuerzo.

Here is an example of a personification of an object.

A Santa Fe le dediqué todo mi esfuerzo”

Just in case you had trouble understanding this halofan the answer to your original question is yes. - fatchocobo, Mar 28, 2011

I didn't mean to obfuscate....I just couldn't think of a good example. - 0074b507, Mar 28, 2011

I disagree with that article. Indirect object are also used with intransitive verbs. - lazarus1907, Mar 28, 2011