usage neuter pronouns: me lo mira
Hello everyone,
Please help me to understand the usage of netuer pronouns and indirectpronouns attached to commands
Thanks
Tamara
20 Answers
Sus comentarios eran muy entretenidos. Que era la respuesta de la pregunta, lo era respueta'
Heidita
Lazarus seems to be an amazing MINE of information.
What I was looking for were what we have in teaching English - that is a set of "graduated" reading excercises (stories - essays etc). Where the grammar gets progressively more advanced.
Hi Ian, if you have a specific doubt or request, I am sure Lazarus will be able to help you better. He knows all pages one can know about grammar. And let's not talk about dictionaries, he must have like....hmmmm, a hundred? I don't think I am exagerating that much. 
Thank you Lazarus. I appreciate your reply.
A specific request - Can you recommend a website where I could find graduated Spanish reading material? Where I am there are no such bookshops.
Mmmmm, there are few good websites where you can find perfect materials for everything, but I know some where this or that information is well presented and thoroughly covered. Any topic in particular?
P.S. For general grammar topics, there is a decent page about many topics here: http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/DEFAULT.HTM
Lazarus - I wasn't attacking you but letting you know how I feel.
I am not adverse to flying objects. I couldn't be that as I am a qualified pilot. I appreciate all the help I can get with what is proving to be a difficult endeavour, namely learning Spanish - may be my age has finally caught up with me and I don't learn as fast as I used to.
A specific request - Can you recommend a website where I could find graduated Spanish reading material? Where I am there are no such bookshops.
I appreciate your expertise but do not appreciate the sarcasm, OR references to flying objects.
I wasn't being sarcastic, but trying to use a comparison to illustrate the complexity of the language avoiding the jargon that most people find daunting. The flying comparison was the first one that came to my mind; I didn't know you were allergic to flying objects, and I do not appreciate aggressive comments when all I was trying to do is to help. If my explanation sucks, just ignore me, but don't attack me for it.
Ian, Lazarus is the first to say that his words often do not come over as friendly as he wishes or with the intention he wishes. He said so himself on your thread about sample sentences.
I am sure he didn't mean to offend you or any learner who is as serious as you and as intersted as you in the language. 
Lazarus "Well, EXCUSE ME!" for trying, unsuccessfully apparently, to let you know how a learner feels when trying to learn YOUR language. I never said lo and esto for example were the same "things". I appreciate your expertise but do not appreciate the sarcasm, OR references to flying objects. Logically I would expect eso and esto to be masculine and esa and esta to be feminine, for example, but to be honest I don't know where that leaves ese and este. I will try to find out. BY the way birds DO "propel air" when they flap their wings, if they didn't they would not fly.
I have problems about when to use "lo" and the Spanish words for this - these / that and those.
They are two completely different things most of the time. "Lo" in Spanish can be both "it/he" and also a very common untranslatable particle. When you mean "this/these" or "that/those", you NEVER use "lo(s)" in Spanish; NEVER.
The problem is when to use the "e" the "o" or the "a" endings. I don't seem to know which one to use when talking - give me time to write it and I can figure it out. Your explanation helped however.
Let's try a different approach: if you have problems with flying 'stuff', looking at it from the point of view of biology (for birds) and the point of view of engineers (for airplanes) makes a huge difference. The "lo" you get as a direct object, as an "attribute", or as an article, are even more different than a bird and and airplane in the way they work. If you wish to ignore their differences, fine, but don't expect an "I can explain it all" explanation, because birds flap their wings without propelling air, but airplaines propel air through their turbines without flapping anything. Some "lo" and other "lo" can be as different in some sentences. Asking for a single explanation is like asking for a single "flying stuff" explanation that accounts for both insects, birds, airplaes and spaceships.
would it be correct or acceptable to say "me lo mira"?
Yes, Heitor, that is correct.
Quiero comprar un coche y quiero que me miren el mío, a ver qué me dan. ¿Me lo mira en un momento'
Clitics in Spanish are all-or-nothing: "me míralo" is wrong; both "me" and "lo" must be attached at the end. "Míralo por mí" would be acceptable, but unusual. Spanish double-clitic constructions are ubiquitous and natural (for us).
Thanks, that was helpful. For some reason I find it easier to understand what the double clitics refer to if they come before the verb instead of after, which is why I asked about alternative ways of saying the same thing.
Based on the all-or-nothing idea, would it be correct or acceptable to say "me lo mira"'
Lazarus, I DID get answers myself, thankyou. But Tamara was actually asking two questions. I have problems about when to use "lo" and the Spanish words for this - these / that and those.
éste - esta - esto / ese esa eso aquel aquellos aquellas etc etc
The problem is when to use the "e" the "o" or the "a" endings. I don't seem to know which one to use when talking - give me time to write it and I can figure it out. Your explanation helped however.
Heidita the first link you gave doesn't seem to work.
Eres medico?
Si, lo soy
Estas enojada?
Si, lo soy
I am not sure if I am phrasing it right but the placement for the pronoun confuses me. What happens the question is addressed to more than one person would that change the pronoun or just the the verb?
Ok, "ser", "estar", and sometimes a few other verbs like "parecer" and "resultar", have an unusual behaviour, quite different from other verbs. Check a transitive verb like "mirar":
Miro al niño = Lo miro
Miro a la niña = La miro
Miro a los niños = Los miro
Because "(a) el niño", "(a) la niña" and "(a) los niños" are direct objects, their corresponding pronouns agree with them in gender: "lo", "la" and "los". However, with "ser" and some of the above mentioned verbs, the object is not a normal object, and certainly not a direct object (unfortunately, English does not have this object, so it cannot be translated):
Es un niño = Lo es
Es una niña = Lo es
Son unos niños = Lo son
As you can see, only "lo" is allowed with this (intransitive) verb, regardless of gender and number. In Spanish, this "object" is called "atributo".
P.D. After "¿Estás enojada'", the proper answer is "(Sí,) Lo estoy".
I have no problem with the "miralo" construction as we have exactly the same thing in Portuguese, but "miramelo" befuddles me. Would it be equivalent to "miralo para mi", "me miralo", or something else?
Clitics in Spanish are all-or-nothing: "me míralo" is wrong; both "me" and "lo" must be attached at the end. "Míralo por mí" would be acceptable, but unusual. Spanish double-clitic constructions are ubiquitous and natural (for us).
There used to be a commercial in Spain years ago that went like: "Póntelo, pónselo" (put the condom on yourself; put the condom on him). The "condom" was implicit, but it is still quite a remarkably concise way to express things accurately.
Thanks very much for your responses .. they were all very helpful. I am still having a few problems with neutral pronouns.. for instance:
Eres medico?
Si, lo soy
Estas enojada?
Si, lo soy
I am not sure if I am phrasing it right but the placement for the pronoun confuses me. What happens the question is addressed to more than one person would that change the pronoun or just the the verb'
