Special verbs

Question

All these verbs seem to take in almost all cases ( when talking about a human) an indirect object pronoun.

Decir

Mostrar

Contestar

Preguntar

Like if you were to say..... " I told him" you would say " le dije"

First of all.......why do these verbs do this?

And secondly.......what are other verbs that are like this?

and yes.....I know verbs like gustar........but they make sense because for example when you are saying " I like the meal" you are really saying the meal is pleasing TO me.

That's what I don't get about all the verbs above....... Like of you said " le contesto" it doesn't translate as " I answer TO him" it is " I answer him "

Clarification would be appreciated

Answer 1

Even in English, when you say, "I told him", him is the indirect object. Another way of writing that sentence would be, "I told -something- to him," where the -something- is the direct object (what is being told) and to him is the indirect object (to whom something is told).

It's the same in Spanish. (Yo) le dije algo (a él). = I told -something- to him.

It works similarly with other verbs, like to show, to ask, to answer.

To show/Mostrar - what is being shown is the direct object (lo, la, los, las), to whom it is shown is the indirect object (le, les)... and etc.

Ok......so what are some other verbs like the ones that I listed above? Thanks - Thegreatone, Sep 12, 2012

Answer 2

If, in english, there are verbs that ask prepositions, that doesn;t mean that the spanish verb has to ask preositions.For example:

I lie to you = Te miento I answer to you = Te contesto

You can say ''Te miento a ti, no a el'' = I lie to you, not to him''

You have to learn better the direct and indirect objects.Those verbs aren't special verbs.

Si, en ingles, hay verbos que piden a preposiciones, esto no significa que el verbo español tiene que pedir a preposiciones.

I lie to you = Te miento I answer to you = Te contesto

Puedes decir ''Te miento a ti, no a el'' ='' I lie to you, not to him''

Tienes que aprender mejor a los complementos directo y indirectos. Estos verbos no son verbos especiales.

aylino, i get what you are saying with the prepostion thing. it is the same situation with the verb escuchar. i really dont know why i named it that title. - Thegreatone, Sep 12, 2012

Answer 3

I believe that all actions (verbs) related to another person require the indirect object. Eg:

Llevo a la niña a la escuela y después llevo el perro a dar un paseo. Tengo que recoger a mi marido de su trabajo a las seis de la tarde.

If the action relates to animals or inanimate objects, this is not required. I'd appreciate confirmation as to whether I'm correct or not...

Not all action verbs take an indirect object pronoun when refering to a person.......for example. If you said I abuse him it would say.....lo abuso. Not le abuso. - Thegreatone, Sep 11, 2012

and if the animal is a pet then it can also take the do - buscaba 'a' mi perro, I was looking for my dog - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 12, 2012

Answer 4

Just add "to" or "for" into your sentence and see if it makes sense; if it does, then you need to add le or les.