Help! please! on translation/meaning

Question

Could someone please explain what the 'le' and 'te' mean in the follwing two sentences:

El le compra joyas. Yo te compre esta joya

It would be much appreciated as I cant seem to figure it out.

Thanks Rich

Answer 1

Le here is the indirect object pronoun meaning "to/for her/him/it". There are corresponding pronouns for Me/You/Us, etc. Here's a link to this topic in the reference section here.

Él le compra joyas - He buys her jewels.
Yo te compré esta joya - I bought you this jewel.

Thanks for answering what must seem a stupid question, I thought it was some new verb being introduced to me, but that reference link has made everything so clear. Thanks again - RParrett, Oct 2, 2011

You're welcome. There is no such thing as a stupid question, and these pronouns can be a bit tricky until you get used to them - KevinB, Oct 2, 2011

Answer 2

El le compra joyas.

Le is the indirect object pronoun here. This sentence translates to "He buys him/her/it/you formal jewelry".

Yo te compre esta joya

We have another indirect object pronoun here. That is "te". This sentence translates to "I bought you this jewel."

Make sure you are using accents. In the first sentence, the "E" in "el" needs an accent (él). However, you don't really even need él in this sentence, anyway.

The second sentence needs an accent on the "e" in "compre" (compré). It is in the preterit. Again, yo isn't needed here.

Thanks. I didnt notice the accent buttons on the bottom until after I submitted - RParrett, Oct 2, 2011

No problem :) - SonrisaDelSol, Oct 2, 2011

Answer 3

Those are Indirect Object Pronouns , when you ask the question "To whom?" or "For whom?" your answer is your indirect object . you can read more about them here