An irrational fear of indirect pronouns

Question

Today's word of the day was "irrational," with the example sentence, "Le tengo un miedo irrational a los payasos." My first thought was why include an indirect pronoun at all? Doesn't the sentence mean the same if "Tengo un miedo irrational a los payasos." But if one is necessary (because to a group of people, clowns, why not have it in the plural, "les"? As in, "to the clowns." Sorry if this is basic stuff, but I am a beginner.

Good question - I have no idea :) - ian-hill, Sep 9, 2013

"irracional" - rac1, Sep 9, 2013

I love your title. - gringojrf, Sep 9, 2013

Thank you...and thanks for the spelling correction. ARrrgh! - RolloMartins, Sep 10, 2013

Answer 1

I have been taught that it's not that clear cut. The indirect object pronoun MUST be used only when:

a) the OI is a pronoun: Regalé un libro a él. (incorrect) Le regalé un libro a él. (correct)

b) when the OI precedes the verb: A tu hermana regalé un libro. (incorrect) A tu hermana le regalé un libro. (correct)

When the OI is a noun as in the example above, the indirect object pronoun is almost always used, but it is not grammatically incorrect to omit it:

Regalé un libro a Juan. (correct, but unusual) Le regalé un libro a Juan (correct and very common).

oops, just saw this. Interesting. I hate it when our classes gloss over some of these details and exceptions. Good to know though. Thanks. - rogspax, Sep 9, 2013

Thanks for the examples, reminders and sharing your expretise - and it's all free! - Jubilado, Sep 9, 2013

¡ Gracias por su experiencia y su explicación! - RolloMartins, Sep 10, 2013

De nada. :) - rac1, Sep 10, 2013

Answer 2

I'm not sure why that wouldn't be 'les' either. That part oesn´t seem quite right, though I might be missing something.

But as for the other part in your comments

My first thought was why include an indirect pronoun at all?

Because it is absolutely required in Spanish. It´s foreign to us, but it is not optional.

Doesn´t the sentence mean the same if "Tengo un miedo irrational a los payasos."

No, in Spanish, one must use the indirect object pronoun.

On the other hand, there are many cases where the "a ..." can be left off.

Me gustan los payasos. The me is a must

A mí, me gustan los payasos. Means the same thing, but with emphasis. A mí is optional

Gustan los payasos. Not allowed this way

Answer 3

The "le" is referring to the clowns (plural). So I also think it should be "les".

Although I vaguely remember something from a class long, long ago about plurals that refer to a group being treated as singular. But I may be completely wrong about that.

Anyway, the clause "a los payasos" is not mandatory if the object is obvious from the conversation, but like Rogspax said the "le/les" is mandatory.

No, it is not mandatory, but can be used to emphasize. - rac1, Sep 9, 2013

Answer 4

"Tengo un miedo irrational a los payasos." is correct except for the spelling of "irracional"

"Tengo un miedo irracional a los payasos"

Or: "Tengo fobia a los payasos".

The first sentence should use, "Les", not "Le" because of clowns being plural.

Les tengo un miedo irracional a los payasos.

'Les" is not needed but it's usually used. It makes the sentence sound more natural and native-like. However, you can use it to intensify or emphasize " payasos"

Why can we omit the I.O.P. in this case? I´m not disagreeing, but I¨m not understanding either. Is this a somewhat different use of an I.O.P. because nothing tangible is being given or otherwise acting on or towards the clowns? - rogspax, Sep 9, 2013