Does this sentence need a direct object pronoun?

Question

I have a question about a sentence from the 500 Verbs game:

Should there be the direct object pronoun 'lo' added before the verb here?

No reparan a Humpty Dumpty. - They don't fix Humpty Dumpty.

Should it be...?:

No lo reparan a Humpty Dumpty. - They don't fix Humpty Dumpty.

Hey, good question. :) - EL_MAG0, Jul 26, 2013

Answer 1

If the direct object precedes the verb, the direct object pronoun must be present also.

No a Humpty Dumpty lo reparan. (required)

With the personal "a" following the verb, the direct object pronoun (lo in this case) is also used before the verb for contrast or emphasis.

No lo reparan a Humpty Dumpty. ( for emphasis)

No reparan a Humpty Dumpy. (no emphasis)

Thanks Gohern. That is helpful. - katydew, Jul 26, 2013

Answer 2

Gohern is right:

If the direct object precedes the verb, the direct object pronoun must be present also.

But it must be: A Humpty Dumpty no lo reparan.

When the D.O. follows the verb the pronoun is not necessary, but we always use it anyway, not so much for emphasis but just from habit. However, this is not incorrect: No lo reparan a Humpty Dumpty.

Thanks Julian. Very helpful. - katydew, Jul 26, 2013

Answer 3

It depends of what you mean by "They don't fix Humpty Dumpty"

Those people are not in charge of fixing him

They didn't fix him and instead they decided to go drink beer

hmm?

Something else, that I am missing there for some context?

In the game, we only use a basic phrase sentence just for learning. The link above can help with context. There's really no context. - katydew, Jul 26, 2013

I understand, but in cases like this, you have to have context in order to apply the phrase. Something the game does not take into account? - chileno, Jul 26, 2013

Yes, right. It's meant to be as simple and basic as possible to learn the verbs. Of course it has to be built from there. Thaks Chileno. - katydew, Jul 26, 2013

Answer 4

I would say no if the direct object is already there. It sounds redundant to me. But I can't say I'm sure I'm correct and can't point to a rule.

Thanks Sinmeta. How it sounds makes a big difference. - katydew, Jul 26, 2013