Indirect objects - incorrect examples?

Question

The software I'm learning from wants me to translate sentences to Spanish. And according to the software correct answers are:

1) Marisa me trae un regalo (para mí).

2) Preparo el desayuno para ellos.

3) (Le) doy mi dirección a Carmen.

4) Hago una paella para usted.

5) Nos dan las noticias (a nosotros).

(statements enclosed in parentheses are optional)

I've got two problems with those sentences. First: Why sometimes me/te/le/... is mandatory, sometimes optional and sometimes absent? According to Indirect Object Pronouns: "In general the indirect object of a sentence will ALWAYS use an indirect object pronoun". Does mean that sentences 2 and 4 are wrong? Also, why a/para mi/ellos/... only sometimes is optional?

Second problem: Why sometimes "para" and sometimes "a" is used. In those sentences the only rule I see is that "para" is used with physical objects (regalo, desayuno, paella), while dirección and noticias ("a" is used) are not physical objects.

However for example here: http://www.linguee.es/espanol-ingles/traduccion/prepara+el+desayuno.html there is a statement "les preparo el desayuno a los senores" - this one looks quite different from sentence 2 above.

Also Indirect Object Pronouns explanation on spanishdict.com uses "a" in the example: "Nos contaron la historia a nosotros" but uses para in the explanation: "You can write this sentence without the prepositional phrase para nosotros". Does mean that I can choose "a" or "para"?

Answer 1

I've got a problem with your rule:

"In general the indirect object of a sentence will ALWAYS use an indirect object pronoun".

It's ambiguous: the pronoun is used in general or Allways?

Gramatically, you can use a preposition + a noun or pronouns as indirect object. Examples:

You can say:

Preparo el desayuno para ellos.

or

Les preparo el desayuno.

Similarly:

Hago una paella para usted.

Le hago una paella.

I wrote the indirect object in bold letters.

In general, the indirect object is introduced by the preposition "a" or "para". But it is difficult to explain when you should use one or the other. You will learn it with practice.

Saludos.

Answer 2

Thanks for the answer.

Actually "In general the indirect object of a sentence will ALWAYS use an indirect object pronoun" is not my rule. It's a quote from spanishdict.com: http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/17. Also here: http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/7730/indirect-objects the answer for "is it alway necessary to have the indirect object pronoun" was "Yes, it is necessary". That's why I was surprised to see for example "Hago una paella para usted".