Can I use 'Le' in this sentence or not?

Question

I just have a really quick Q!

I have the sentence : Paco llevaba años sin ver a su hermana.

I am wondering why the use of 'le' is not in this sentence, for example:

"Paco llevaba anos sin verle (a su hermana.)

Is adding the pronoun correct in the context of this sentence? Or if you could, would it be 'La' since she is female? Thanks!

Answer 1

It is in this area that Spanish is not very consistent.

To answer your question "le" is most assuredly not needed. Le is an indirect object pronoun meaning "to her, from her. for her (or him) etc.

When using indirect object pronouns, both the pronoun and the indirect object it self is used.

Ex. Le di a mi hermana un vestido nuevo. Both the hermana and the le are necessary if you don't have an antecedent in which case you can drop "mi hermana"

HOWEVER with direct object pronouns, you don't ever use both in the same sentence.

So "Paco llevaba años sin ver a su hermana." is correct.

Okay! just to repeat, So only IO pronouns contain the grammatical redundancy, but if you just have a DO than you don't need to state it twice. - harero, Jun 27, 2016

That's it! - Daniela2041, Jun 27, 2016