In Spanish, there are six main indirect object pronouns with an alternate seventh:
*Note: The pronoun se is only used to replace le or les in sentences with double object pronouns. In other words, when a sentence contains both third-person direct (lo, la, los, las) and indirect object pronouns, we must use se instead of ‘le’ or ‘les’. This change is made for semantic purposes.
Spanish indirect objects can be a noun, a noun phrase or a prepositional pronoun. To find it, you combine the questions “for whom” or “to whom” with the verb in your sentence. Let’s check these examples:
Joe enseña a los niños a contar.
Joe teaches the kids to count.
So, to find the indirect object in this sentence, we ask ‘to whom Joe teaches?’. The answer is to the kids . This means the sentence can use a plural indirect object pronoun:
Joe les enseña.
Joe teaches them.
Here is another example:
Charlie compró esos chocolates para mí .
Charlie bought those chocolates for me .
‘For whom Charlie bought those chocolates?’. Para mí (for me). So, here is how that sentence will look when replacing the indirect object:
Charlie me compró esos chocolates.
Charlie bought me those chocolates.
KEY TIP: Check the example above. It also has a direct object (chocolates). Like this example, many Spanish sentences contain both types of objects. When this happens, you can find the indirect object by identifying the person or thing that receives the direct object.
Le and les are the Spanish indirect objects for the third person. They replace both feminine and masculine nouns (things or people). Since they can refer to many things, le and les can be ambiguous if there’s no background information.
To avoid this confusion, many Spanish sentences use double indirect objects. This means that, instead of replacing, we use the indirect object and the pronoun together to provide more clarification:
Le regalé un libro a mi hermano.
I bought my brother a book.
Sonia le dijo a Juan de la fiesta.
Sonia told Juan about the party.
Affective verbs in Spanish (verbs like ‘gustar’) convey that a thing or activity affects a person. Because of this, their conjugation always uses an indirect object pronoun:
A Leticia le gustan los perros.
Leticia likes dogs.
A mí me molesta el ruido.
The noise bothers me.
Este teléfono nos costó mucho dinero.
This phone cost us a lot of money.
At first glance, affective verbs may seem odd. But in fact, affective verbs (verbs like gustar) are part of the set of verbs that take indirect object pronouns. They have:
Take Note: Structures with affective verbs may not always have a direct translation in English. Check this list with common verbs like gustar to find affective verbs you’ll use in daily situations.
The correct order of indirect object pronouns in Spanish is:
[Indirect object pronouns] + [conjugated verb]
Le pedí dinero a Carlos.
I asked Carlos for money.
No nos has dicho qué hacer.
You haven’t told us what to do.
Dame mi teléfono.
Give me my phone.
Quiero decirte que lo siento.
I want to tell you that I’m sorry.
Except for the perfect tenses , you have some flexibility with sentences with more than one verb. In other words, with these types of structures, you can either place the pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to the infinitive or gerund. Both examples below are correct applications of where to place the indirect object pronoun:
Le voy a decir mañana.
I’m going to tell her tomorrow.
Voy a decirle mañana.
I’m going to tell her tomorrow.
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Take Note: Some sentences may use both indirect and direct object pronouns (called double object pronouns). In these cases, both pronouns must follow the previous placement rules. However, the indirect object pronoun always goes before the direct object pronoun .
Dáme la , por favor.
Give it to me, please.
Se los envié a Carlos.
I sent them to Carlos.
In Spanish, there are many verbs that can work with indirect objects. However, some of the most common Spanish verbs that take indirect objects are:
Take Note: Be aware that some of these verbs may also take a direct object. Sometimes, using direct or indirect object pronouns slightly changes the sentence’s meaning. For example –Yo los pagué (you paid something) vs Yo les pagué (you paid someone).
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When replacing an indirect object , le and se are the same pronoun. Se is used instead of ‘le’ only if a sentence has both third-person direct and indirect object pronouns.
Incorrect
Compré unas flores y le las regalé a Joy.
I bought some flowers and gave them to Joy.
Correct
Compré unas flores y se las regalé a Joy.
I bought some flowers and gave them to Joy.
Using se instead of le and les is done for semantic purposes. This is because lelo as well as its feminine and plural forms mean ‘dumb’ in Spanish.
Take Note: In some sentences, the pronoun se may work as a reflexive pronoun. In this case, se communicates that someone is performing an action upon himself or herself. If you were performing the action on another person , you should use an indirect object pronoun:
Indirect object pronouns in Spanish are crucial to speak naturally and fluidly. Here are the key points to know:
Learning how to use the Spanish indirect object pronoun is one of the hardest topics in the Spanish language. So, I’ve created a downloadable PDF with the cheat sheets for this guide, including the graphics, rules, examples, and key points you need to revisit this subject whenever you need a refresher.
If you want to practice indirect object pronouns, you should take this quiz. ¡Buena suerte!
