Le in sentnence
"Un día, en un juicio, una mujer dice que el viento es el ladrón que le robó su saco de harina" - what is "le" for in the sentence? thanks.
4 Answers
The "le" as kenhuizenga said is the indirect object pronoun. In this case, is means from her. Spanish is the only language that I know of that will employ the indirect object AND the indirect object pronoun in the same sentence. For this reason it is called the "redundant le" by American writers of Spanish Textbooks.
To answer the second part of your question, it is YES. If you don't include the "le" is considered incorrect.
To us Spanish speakers, it is automatic and we do it without even thinking about it.
Translated your sentence means, "One day in a trial, a woman says that the wind is the thief who robbed (from) her-her sack of flour."
her....le is the indirect pronoun for her he it or formal you ...ustedes
Daniela gave you a very good answer. I'd like to share my current understanding of the need for the "redundant" pronoun. I've read quite a bit about this, but unlike Daniela, I'm no expert. Here goes...and please, if I am wrong about any of this, please let me know.
Spanish sentence structure is much more flexible than English. Sometimes, an indirect object is used at the beginning of the sentence (to place more emphasis on it). When an indirect object precedes the verb in the sentence the redundant pronoun is absolutely required. (This applies to direct objects as well)
If the indirect object occurs after the verb, the redundant pronoun is not obligatory unless the indirect object is a personal pronoun. (a él, a ella, a nosotros, etc.) However, using the redundant pronoun is not wrong, and using the redundant pronoun is so much more common in actual use, that Spanish learners are advised to always use them. If they don't, their writing or speech will seem strange to most Spanish speakers, even if grammatically correct.
Regarding the above point, I'll make a comparison to English:
How are you? I'm good.
To many English speakers, saying I'm good will grate on their ears. Many will think it is grammatically incorrect. Even some English speakers who know quite a lot about grammar will think: One should say "I'm fine or I'm well" Good is an adjective, and you should use an adverb here...blah blah blah.
Actually, it is perfectly fine grammatically to say "I'm good" or any other adjective for that matter because "to be" is a copulative verb.
Anyway, if I wanted to make a good impression on someone...meeting with a prospective client, for example...I would never say "I'm good." So, in the same vein, I try to always use redundant indirect objects in Spanish, even though the RAE says they are not always obligatory.
Again...Daniela...or anyone else...I'd love to hear what you think about the above.
Ken
For those of you who are interested in the adverb/adjective issue I mentioned above:
I'm good is correct grammar.
I'm doing good is incorrect. (to do is not a copulative verb)
I'm doing fine is correct. (fine is an adverb)
While we're on the topic of indirect object pronouns, I'd like some input on the following issue:
According to Spanish grammar rules, the indirect object should always be proceeded by the letter a.
For example.
(yo) Le escribí una carta a mi madre. (I wrote a letter to my mother)
(yo) Le metí los huevos a la sarten. (I put the eggs in the frying pan)
My question is this. If I use a preposition other than "a" it is more common to treat it as an indirect object...and use the redundant pronoun...or it is more common to treat it as an object of a preposition and ignore the indirect object nature of the noun.
Le compré un libro a mi madre. (correct)
Le compré un libro para mi madre. (wrong?)
Compré un libro para mi madre. (right?)
Le metí los huevos a la sarten (correct)
Le metí los huevos en la sarten. (wrong?)
Metí los huevos en la sarten. (right?)
I found an old link on Spanishdict which covers this exact issue:
objects following prepositions other than "a" are not indirect objects
According to Lazurus (one of the best Spanish grammar experts ever on SD)
objects following prepositions other than a are NOT treated as indirect objects even though logically they might be the person who is (indirectly) affected by the action of the verb.
Le compré un libro para mi madre should be:
Compré un libro para mi madre
OR Le compré un libro a mi madre.
Le compré un libro para mi madre would mean:
I bought a book for my mother from him. )
Which raises an interesing question:
Could you say:
Se le compré un libro a mi hermano a mi madre?
In other words...would it be clear grammatically that the book was bought from my brother and given to my mother instead of the other way around? I would guess that is isn't and it would be better to say either:
Compré un libro de mi hermano para mi madre.
OR Le compré un libro a mi hermano para mi madre.
Thoughts?
