Le, Lo and Se?

Question

I've never understood the rules about when to use le, lo and se in front of a verb. For instance I know that "No lo conozco" means I don't know him, but what is the difference between, for instance "Le amanazaron" and "Se amanazaron" or "Le buscaban" and "Se buscaban"?

Thanks,

TOm

Great question! - francobollo, May 19, 2013

Answer 1

Le amenazaron is a polite and even gender neutral way to say Lo amenazaron (He was threatened) or La amenazaron (She was threatened). Le is much more common in Spain than in Latin America. The use of Le instead of La or Lo is a phenomenon called Leísmo.

Se amenazaron is a transitive use of the verb amenazar meaning They threatened one another.

Le buscaban could very well be Lo buscaban or La buscaban. The reasons are identical as the ones explained above.

Se buscaban means they were looking for each other.

I hope this helps!

leismo What is that - gohern, May 19, 2013

Check out this link to learn about Leísmo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leísmo - francobollo, May 19, 2013

lo hare, Gracias - gohern, May 20, 2013

Answer 2

You might find the grammar lessons on direct and indirect object pronouns helpful