Pronouns - Can someone clarify for me please?

Question

I understand about replacing nouns with both direct and indirect pronouns, but can someone please explain why the sentence:

"¿Que le dijo al gerente?" needs the extra le? Would it also be correct to say "¿Que dijo al gerente?" Thanks.

It would not be correct to omit the indirect object pronoun. One could use only the IO pronoun, but not only the IO. - scratch2486, Jan 23, 2013

Answer 1

Hello, Ukali.

I have an easier way to think about it. Without grammar guides.

It's to avoid confusion.

Remember that you also have the "personal a"

You use the indirect object pronoun to announce that it's giving something, or telling some TO someone, instead of doing it to them.

Golpeé a mi hermano en el ojo. (Your brother is the direct object of your punch)

Le di un putazo a mi hermano. (Your brother received the beating)

Question: What's the difference if you're still hitting him?

That's rather simple.

You directly hit someone.

• the verb acts directly on the object
  Hit (who/what?) your brother

But you GIVE them a beating.

Give what (to whom?)
Give the beating, to your brother.

Golpeé a mi hermano (the A is the personal A)

Le di un putazo a mi hermano (the A here says 'to')

Which brings to mind a simpler explanation (I'm going to generalize)

The indirect object pronoun turns 'a' into 'to'

You can also say "golpeé la pared" (it hit..the wall)

And you can also write in the other case (of the indirect object, which is receiving something)

Le di un putazo (Le + verb = to him/her)

Le dije (I told him/her)

Le dije a él (I told him)

a él
a ella
a mi hermano
a mí
a ti
a (whatever person)
are only tags after (le + verb) that are simply to clarify. They name "to" whom

Le - by itself tells you to 'someone'

then ... a etc ...just clarifies, nothing more.

Me dio un regalo = He she gave me a gift

You can also write (Me dio un regalo a mí) ...but "me" is only used to say "to me" so you don't need to add "a mí" but you can if you really want to, haha.

Le (means ...to him... or to her) ...so you need to add your tag to clarify

Le (to him/her) di (I gave) un regalo (a gift)

That's fine if we already know who the person is... if not, give it a tag

Le di un regalo a mi hermano (I gave a gift to my brother)

(a) means 'to' there... and 'le' and 'a' are teammates. It's that simple.

Espero que esto te ayude.

Appreciate the time you spent in replying. Thanks. - ukali, Jan 24, 2013

Answer 2

It may benefit you to watch Lesson 2.3 from Learn Spanish. And also visit the pronouns section under the Spanish Grammar page.

Spanish Grammar Page

Answer 3

I asked this same question a week or two ago. It's called "indirect object duplication", and it's common in Spanish. I've been told it's mandatory to use it if the IO comes before the verb, and customarily always used when the IO comes after the verb. This is a very common question. If you do a search in the question box just before you title your question, you'll find many clear and complete answers from accomplished native speakers and student grammarians.

Here's a link to one of the questions that might help - http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/242728/more-pronoun-help-please

And here's another one with a GREAT answer by Francobello.

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/242493/el-soldado-le-est-escribiendo-una-carta-a-su-familia

Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one having problems with this! - ukali, Jan 24, 2013