This one has to do with asking forgiveness

Question

Ok, so I was reading a comic strip in spanish & the father (Juan) was apologizing to his daughter because he didn't believe that she saw a puercoespín (porcupine) in a tree.

The narrator writes "Juan le pide perdón a su hija" translating into "John apologizes to his daughter"

Can someone translate literally word for word what's being said including the translation of "le" in this case?

Great question! - francobollo, Oct 4, 2012

Answer 1

The verb in Spanish is pedir perdón a (alguien). Literally, it means ask for forgiveness to (somebody).

Verbs ending in the preposition "a" take an indirect object (in your example, "su hija" is the indirect object). Le is an indirect pronoun used with verbs that take an indirect object. It replaces the preposition to if the indirect object is not being mentioned.

In your example, both the indirect pronoun (le) and the indirect object (su hija) are present. So let's break down your phrase:

John / to "her" / ask for / forgiveness / his daughter.

Le and a su hija in the same sentence may be a bit redundant, but perfectly correct. If you wanted to make a choice between using the indirect pronoun or the indirect object in the sentence, you could say:

Juan le pide perdón (to whom?, we do not know)

Juan pide perdón a su hija (no redundancy here).

I hope this helps!

I agree with everything but Le replacing To. I always thought Le meant he/she/it. No? I think the 1st example you gave can only be used if the WHO is established from what i've read in texts. - Acelata, Oct 4, 2012

Le means to her/to him/to it (as a pronoun) ..Le das el libro --- You give the book (to him/her) - francobollo, Oct 5, 2012

You are right about my first example. So you can have: María está ofendida. Juan le pide perdón. Perfectly clear Juan is asking María for forgiveness. - francobollo, Oct 5, 2012

Gracias, both you & Brady have been a big help. - Acelata, Oct 5, 2012

Answer 2

John asks for pardon to his daughter.

Le indicates that the direct object is being received by the indirect object (a su hija.)