Is my understanding of the difference between Direct&Indirect; object pronouns correct?

Question

Please tell me if this sounds right. I'm not sure if I understand correctly. (I'm studying Spanish but I want to try and understand it in English too)

I give IT to him.

IT=Direct Object Pronoun HIM=Indirect Object Pronoun

I give HIM the CAKE

HIM=Is still the Indirect object pronoun CAKE=? Still the direct object?

So in Spanish I would say: 1. Le lo doy 2. Le doy el pastillo. .....Right?

And is there a way to remember when to use which? Something that feels more 'natural' than having to analyse it first?

Thanks in advance

I'm glad you asked this, I never understand it quite either..I'm hoping to develop some feel for it but now I'll benefit from the answers too. - annierats, Jan 5, 2012

Answer 1

So in Spanish I would say: 1. Le lo doy 2. Le doy el pastillo. .....Right?

Le doy el pastel [what's pastilllo?] is perfect.

However, "le lo doy" needs some work. Those repeated "l" sounds are like a pronunciation rollercoaster. To avoid all those awkward "l" sounds, when both the indirect and direct objects start with "l", the indirect pronoun becomes "se" regardless of whether it was "le" or "les".

So "le lo doy" should be "se lo doy"...so much easier to pronounce!

Great answer, Sunshine :) - Izanoni1, Jan 4, 2012

Of course ! I learnt that long ago but forgot :) Thanks! - Ada-S, Jan 4, 2012

Oh sonrisa, I had never undesrstood why all those ses appeared. Thank you! - annierats, Jan 5, 2012

Answer 2

Maybe the following will make it easier.

Instead of " I give him the cake" think of " I give the cake to him"

Answer 3

Thank you everybody. At this point, I still don't understand how this is going to be something I naturally do. I understand the grammar behind it but I think I'll be confused when it comes to speaking. Especially the difference between Indirect and direct. (well minor difference of 3 person)

So for now, it's practise, practise, practise! Thank you!

Answer 4

I give IT to him. spanish= se lo daré (a él)

Le daré el pastel a él or "le doy el pastel" regards! Cake= Pastel 95link text95 http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complemento_directolink text

Pero el inglés es en el presente, no el futuro. - samdie, Jan 5, 2012

Answer 5

I have also learned this and it helps me: To find direct object, find action verb and ask who? or what? To find the indirect object, find the action verb and ask to whom or for whom.

Answer 6

Instead of " I give him the cake" think of " I give the cake to him"

Those two sentences mean the same thing, but are very different grammatically.

In the first one, "him" is the indirect object of the verb "give" and "the cake" is the direct object.

In the second, "the cake" is the direct object of the verb "give" while "him" is the object of the preposition "to". The verb has no indirect object.

This distinction is important because of a rule governing the use of pronouns: pronouns cannot be separated from the word they are the object of.

With indirect object:
I gave Bob the cake.
I gave him the cake.
I gave Bob it. wrong
I gave him it. wrong

Without indirect object:
I gave the cake to Bob.
I gave it to Bob.
I gave the cake to him.
I gave it to him.