Yo lo miré - I looked at you (Is this formal? Why not use Le?)

Question

I thought that this "lo" would mean it, but it is refering to a person. I presume it is formal spanish in the usted form. However, I always thought that it would be le or la when refering to a person in usted form, not lo. Any help?

Answer 1

This isn't formal or informal, it's just the 3rd person. Mirar is used here as a transitive verb (meaning it requires a direct object). Lo/la are the 2 used for direct objects, while le is used for indirect objects.

Yo lo miré, without more information, could either be I looked at you (usted, formal) or I looked at him.

Answer 2

Lo is the 3rd person, singular, direct object pronoun meaning him or it.

With certain verbs the leísmo (using le where lo should be used) is accepted or widely used when the le refers to a single, male.

The difference between le and la is whether it is she or it is serving as an indirect object or a direct object, not whether it is a person or not.

le is an indirect object pronoun[excepting for a leísmo], la is a direct object pronoun. (le for la [laísmo] is not acceptable)

Answer 3

In this case, as previously stated, either Le or Lo can be used.

If you were talking to someone using formal usted, then it would be better to use Lo for him (another person) so as to not confuse the person you´re talking to that he might be the object rather than someone else.

Lo miré .... I looked at him

Le miré .... I looked at him / I looked at you