object pronouns

Question

I have a couple of questions about the following sentence:

Vas a comprarle esos CD a Ana.

First, is the question being asked of Ana or does the "a" mean for Ana. I thought "a Ana" should be at the beginning of the sentence if it meant Ana was the one buying, but maybe it can also go at the end? Second, esos can mean either that or those plural, but CD is singular, so I'm a little confused as to whether the pronoun would be los or lo.

Answer 1

Anna is not the one buying, she is not Subject she is the indirect object, You are the subject. The CDs are the direct objects. The pronoun is le because it is indirect and refers to Ana.

The fact that it's "Vas" which means "you go" is what tells you you're the Subject. (the one buying)

I don't really understand why this sentence has "le" AND Ana, Ana seems redundant. (sorry Ana)

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/iopro1.htm

I think if it was "Ana is going to buy the CDs for you" it would be

(Ana) Va a comprar los CDs para tí.

OR

(Ana) Va a comprarlos para tí.

OR

(Ana) Va a comprarte los CDs.

But these things drive me crazy, I could be wrong about these example sentences.

It's a good idea to search Direct object pronoun / indirect object pronoun because you get a lot of threads with people analyzing sentences like this.

it could be emphatic as opposed to redundant. - webdunce, Oct 14, 2011

We were told in class not to ever use the two. But maybe it was one of those exadurations to make things easier for students, or maybe i misunderstood. - rabbitwho, Oct 14, 2011

Answer 2

I'm not good at grammar. In fact, I find it confusing. However, here is a good tip for confused people: LOOK AT THE VERB FIRST. In this instance it is vas, meaning you are going to , a comprar, which means to buy. you're going to buy. After that it becomes obvious that you're going to buy these CD's for Ana. More grammatically minded people can expleain why le needs to be there..

Because the fairys put it there and we must obey them because they are magic. - rabbitwho, Oct 14, 2011

Thanks Rabbit, that about sums it up for me...And why isn't it por or para Ana? - annierats, Oct 14, 2011

Answer 3

After that it becomes obvious that you're going to buy these CD's for Ana. More grammatically minded people can expleain why le needs to be there..

Or you are going to buy the CDs from Ana. The le is optional, but usually included.

Thank you Lorenzo, I find the le's very difficult. Also, why not say por Ana? - annierats, Oct 14, 2011

Answer 4

If you promise not to shoot yourself, you can look here