Is "Le" a Spanish Word?

Question

Question: Does le mean the because sometimes I hear Mexicans use it, and when Ilook it up I'm not sure if it's slang or what, since the translation for le in English means the, but its says that it is a French word, not Spanish. Can anyoe explain this to me?

Answer 1

It sure is. It's an indirect object pronoun most commonly meaning 'him, her, you' or 'to him, to her, to you' ...

Le dije que no.

I told him/her/you, no.

Le di una carta.

I gave him/her/you a letter. (Lit to him I gave a letter.)

but it it can mean other things like for/from him, her, you.

Le robaron mil dólares. They stole $1000 'from' her.

If your not sure who the Le refers to you can tack 'a él, a ella or a usted) on the end.

Le di una carta a ella.

I gave 'her' a letter.

Great answer, Kiwi :) - FELIZ77, Jun 24, 2015

Answer 2

Firstly, the word le exists both in Spanish and French but has a different meaning and role (purpose) in each language!

In Spanish le (pronounced somewhere between leh and softly spoken:lay) is an indirect object pronoun that is used to mean:

to him / to her / to you (polite/formal form of you = Usted)

If you follow the link you can click your mouse on the loud speaker symbol and a native voice will pronounce the word in Spanish for you! enter link description here There is also some basic information about the word

The SpanishDict grammar section can give you more information about Indirect object pronouns: enter link description here

Paralee has also recorded 4 series of free, mini-videos, each explaining some aspect/s of Spanish grammar which you may find very helpful: her teaching video is called: Parties with direct and inditrect object pronouns. Please follow this link

This is an area of Spanish which I strugglled to grasp for many years so I do empathize .However, if you revisit the videos that cover the subjects/themes with which you struggle ..you will eventually understand them ..one day they will just 'click' (make sense)

In French the word le (pronounced luh) is the masculine, definite article and just means the eg le chien = the dog ,or le père = the father

I hope this helps

P.S: I speak and am having lessons in several languages including Spanish and French (Intemediate level). Daniela, our native Spanish teacher and Falda also both know some French.

Answer 3

'Le' is used as an indirect object pronoun, meaning 'to him/her/it/you' ('a + lo/la/lo/usted) in certain constructions. I believe it's also used as a direct object pronoun for 'usted' in certain regions whereas in other regions they use 'lo/la'.

Use as Indirect Object Pronoun

For example, 'a mi esposo le gusta jugar al tenis' = 'my husband likes playing tennis'

Use as Direct Object Pronoun

For example, 'puedo llevarle a la estación de trenes' = 'I can take you to the train station'

But 'puedo llevarlo / llevarla a la estación de trenes' may also mean the same, depending on region.

See here: leismo

And, yes, you're right, it's also used in French as the direct object pronoun for 'him/it', but in French the indirect object pronoun is 'lui', not 'le' ('à + le').

And also as Feliz77 says (we were apparently typing our answers at the same time): in French it's also the masculine definite article, & in this context when combined with 'à' = 'au'... ;-) - Faldaesque, Jun 24, 2015