Help with Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns
Hey all, I have a two part question.
First, does anyone have any suggestions for a source to learn about these types of pronouns? I am using various internet sites as well as the book "Essential Spanish Grammar."
Second, I'm wondering if anyone can help me distinguish the differences between the following (seemingly contradictory) examples:
Ex 1) Le di el anillo. I gave her the ring.
Ex 2) Ellos me los dan. They give them to me.
The two examples seem to follow different rules. Why does the first example start with the person receiving but the second doesn't? Shouldn't it be: me ellos los dan? I'm really having a hard time with these pronouns. Thanks in advance.
6 Answers
What I don't understand is why it's at the front of the sentence rather than attached to the verb.
Why would it be attached to the verb?
Consider that a subject pronoun (or any other noun phrase acting as the subject of a sentence) is not acting as a verbal complement. On the other hand, direct and indirect object pronouns are in fact considered verbal complements, a fact which makes it more reasonable to expect them to be attached to the verb.
Traditional Spanish grammar, in fact, refers to direct and indirect object pronouns as "clitics," a term whose very definition makes it reasonable to expect to find these particular complements to be attached to the verb.
In any case, it can be noted that the order of appearance of the direct and indirect object pronouns is fairly straightforward when dealing with a conjugated verb form. Namely, the order is as follows:
I.O. pronoun — D.O. pronoun — Conjugated verb
Take a look at our original expression and note how a direct object pronoun might be used, for example:
Le di el anillo (I gave her the ring)
becomes....
Se lo di (I gave it to her)
If we were to consider the subject pronoun (or any other noun phrase acting as the subject of the sentence), we would find that Spanish allows for some variability in terms of positioning so long as it does not intervene between the clitic pronoun and its verb. For example, it would not be unreasonable to expect to see any of the following constructs (though with varying degrees of frequency depending on factors such as focus, emphasis and context):
- Le di el anillo — clitic i.o.p.--verb (Subject implied by verb form)--direct object
- Yo le di el anillo — subj. pronoun--clitic i.o.p.--verb--direct object
- Le di yo el anillo — clitic i.o.p.--verb--subj. pronoun--direct object
- Le di el anillo yo — clitic i.o.p.--verb--direct object--subj. pronoun
- Se lo di el anillo — clitic i.o.p.--clitic d.o.p.--verb (Subject implied by verb form)
- Se lo di yo el anillo — clitic i.o.p.--clitic d.o.p.--verb--subj. pronoun--restated d.o.
- Yo se lo di el anillo — subj. pronoun--clitic i.o.p.--clitic d.o.p.--verb--restated d.o.
- Yo se lo di — subj. pronoun--clitic i.o.p.--clitic d.o.p.--verb
- Se lo di yo — clitic i.o.p.--clitic d.o.p.--verb--subj. pronoun
On the other hand, the following examples would be considered ungrammatical because the subject pronoun intervenes between the verb and its clitic complements
- Se yo lo di — ungrammatical
- Se lo yo di — ungrammatical
I should say that I understand which words are the direct objects, indirect objects, and verbs. The second example is what is giving me problems.
I should say that I understand which words are the direct objects, indirect objects, and verbs. The second example is what is giving me problems.
Just remember that the subject describes who is acting, that is, WHO is doing the giving:
- (Yo) di — I gave
- (Ellos) dan — they gave
Perhaps what you were not able to identify was the subject pronoun (Ella) in the second sentence. The fact that the subject pronoun (Yo) was omitted in the first example probably made these sentences seem much more different than they actually were.
Unlike English, Spanish word order does not follow a strict subject verb order. Another key difference is that in English, the pronoun is obligatory because without it, it would not be possible to identify the subject (due to a lack of inflection in the verb form); whereas, in Spanish, it is more common to find the verb unaccompanied by the subject pronoun because the Spanish verb's inflectional forms already identify the verbs sentence making the subject pronoun an often unnecessary redundancy.
Le di el anillo
- Verb: (Yo) di — I gave
- Direct Object: el anillo — the ring (describes WHAT was given)
- Indirect Object: Le — to her (describes TO WHOM the object was given)
Ellos me los dan
- Verb (with subject pronoun): Ellos dan — They give
- Direct Object: los — them (describes WHAT was given)
- Indirect Object: me — to me (describes TO WHOM the object was given)
Read through section 41-47. Click on the below link:
En Español muchas veces omitimos el sujeto, puedes decir "Yo le di el anillo" o para acortar "Le di el anillo" (por que se entiende que eres tú quien se lo da)
En el ejemplo 2 sucede lo mismo "Ellos me lo dan" o "Me lo dan" (se entiende que son ellos tambien)
Mas ejemplos
1. Yo le di el anillo = Le di el anillo
2. Tu le diste el anillo = Le diste el anillo
3. El/Ella le dio el anillo = Le dio el anillo
4. Nosotros le dimos el anillo = Le dimos el anillo
5. Vosotros le disteis el anillo = Le disteis el anillo
6. Ellos le dieron el anillo = Le dieron el anillo
1. Yo me lo di = Me lo di
2. Tu me lo das = Me lo das
3. El/Ella me lo da = Me lo da
4. Nosotros nos lo damos = Nos lo damos
5. Vosotros me lo dais = Me lo dais
6. Ellos me lo dan = Me lo dan
