direct object - LO or LE
Hello guys,
I have a little problem with the use of masculine pronoun as a direct object. This should usually be LO (according to many websites it is the only right one) but many times I saw/heard LE where I would naturally say LO. Also, my dictionary says that it can be both LO and LE. Though there is no mention about when to use which one.
One example, in 01x8th episode of Teoría del BB is said: "No le vemos." We don't see HIM - that is direct object, isn't it? Why LE? They are talking about one guy.
I'll be glad with any help 
3 Answers
Hey, it's quite simple:
When the object pronoun is the direct object of the sentence, EITHER "le" or "lo" can be used IF the pronoun refers to a masculine singular human being. Only "lo" is possible if it refers to a masculine animal or object.
Thus, you can either say, "no lo vemos" or "no le vemos" and you would be conveying the exact same thing.
Some examples:
I'm going to buy it ( a car) = Lo voy a comprar (in this case you could not use "le" because the direct object is an object and not a human being)
I am going to invite him = Le/lo voy a invitar (in this case either can be used because the direct object is a masculine human being)
Hope that helps!
You can try these two on your own and I'll let you know if you are right:
I am going to paint it (the kitchen) = ????
I met him yesterday = ?????
First you must understand the meaning of direct and indirect. Direct objects are ones that take the action, and indirect objects don't take the action but are involved someway with the action.
Direct: I hit the ball. Golpeé la pelota. The ball, or la pelota (in Spanish), is the direct object because I hit it. It receives the action of being hit. Usually during conversation we don't want to repeat "the ball" over and over so we replace it with an easier term. In English it is "it" (e.g. I hit it), and in Spanish it is "lo/s and la/s" depending on the gender and plurality (e.g. lo golpeé). In Spanish the direct objects precedes the verb.
Indirect: I hit the ball to them. Golpeé la pelota a ellos. In this case, them and ellos are the indirect objects which don't receive the action of hitting. They are usually in prepositional phrases. For English we use, me/you/him/her/them, and Spanish we use me/te/le/nos/os/les. In some cases we specify with "a mí" to state myself.
The case you have is where a person, who is usually an indirect object, is being used for a direct object. In this case we still use the indirect object, but we understand that the person is really the direct object.
I hit him: Le golpeé.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for quick help whatchalookinat
I never learned rules for direct and indirect objects because my native language is Czech and we differ pronouns similarly like Spanish so I find it quite natural without thinking about it. Anyway, I'm glad with your explanation, first time I see some sense in that system
The case you have is where a person, who is usually an indirect object, is being used for a direct object. In this case we still use the indirect object, but we understand that the person is really the direct object.
OK I understand this, mainly in your example with hitting a ball. In my example is ver algn.
Why should a person usually be an indirect object here when ver only takes direct objects? But maybe I'm too meticulous with this...
So is it wrong if I say "No lo vemos." ?
