El padre le contestó...

Question

Why is "le" being used here instead of "lo"? I was told by a native speaker that this sentence is translated as "The father answered him...." Is this case of "leism" (I may have spelled this wrong).

Answer 1

Contestarle algo a alguien.

It would seem to me that what is being answered is the direct object, and the person to whom the answer is directed is the indirect object.

I guess you could say that you answer something to/for someone.

Thank you! I never thought of it that way. I guess one would be answering something to him in reply to a question. - AnnB, Jan 18, 2013

Nice job :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 18, 2013

Answer 2

Bosquederoble is right.

The person on is aswering is the indirect object. You´re answering an answer (the direct object) TO the person (the indirect object) and as such, have to use the indirect object pronoun, le, instead of the direct object one, lo.

One on the few cases we do this in English, would be the word ¨whom¨.

We shouldn´t say ¨to who are you answering¨ but rather ¨to whom are you answering¨

Answer 3

You´re right that in this sentence "leismo" is used, so we can say either "le" or "lo" for "him".

But without context, when using "le" we don´t know if it´s "him" or "her"; we only know by using "lo" or "la".

Thank you. The person who translated for me didn't explain the grammar, but perhaps in this particular sentence the reply made by Bosquederoble fits better.. - AnnB, Jan 18, 2013