Do I use an indirect object pronoun??
If I want to say "he wants to give toys to the child", do I say "él le quiere dar unos juguetes al niño", or is the "le" unnecessary because the recipient is specified?
Thank you!
3 Answers
You could actually get by without the "le" but most Spanish speakers use it and most Spanish language textbooks insist on it. English speakers call it the "redundant" le.
Ël quiere darle unos juguetes al niño.
or
Él le quiere dar unos juguetes al niño.
Él quiere dar unos juguetes al niño. could be but the other two sound much better to a native ear. Of course you could omit the "Él".
If I want to say "he wants to give toys to the child", do I say "él le quiere dar unos juguetes al niño", or is the "le" unnecessary because the recipient is specified?
Dani answered your question regarding the use of le (the IOP - indirect object pronoun) perfectly.
What is NOT necessary, or customary in Spanish is the subject pronoun "él"
Unlike English, where subject pronouns are absolutely mandatory in almost every case, in Spanish, context and the conjugated verb often make them unnecessary. They are typically only used for emphasis or clarification.
Emphasis: including "él" is sort of like stressing (saying louder) the word "he" in English.
Clarification: if there is a possibility, based on your situation either in a conversation or a written story that somebody might not know if you mean "he" or "she" or "it" or "you (usted)" then you can add the "él" for clarification. Otherwise, it is usually omitted.
Le quiere dar unos juguetes al niño. Would be much more common. - leave out the él.
And yes, it is very common to start a sentence with an indirect pronoun object in Spanish even though this is something that is rarely, if ever done, in English.
Hope this helps.
