Micro Class Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns and Indirect Object Pronouns:

You will recall that the Spanish Subject pronouns are:

                 Yo                        =        I
                 Tú                        =        you (singular, familiar)
                 Él                         =        he
                 Ella                      =        she
                 Usted                  =        you (singular, polite or formal)
                      There is no subject pronoun for "it"

                 Nosotros/as      =        We
                 Ustedes             =        You (plural, familiar & polite) * Purists, see footnote below.
                 Ellos                   =        Them (masculine)
                 Ellas                   =        Them (feminine)

                The subject indicates the person or thing that takes the action indicated by the verb. For example, I could say, "Bob hit
                the ball." The man, "Bob" is the subject, because "HE" hit the ball. I can replace Bob´s name in the sentence with
                "he," and "he" (the subject pronoun) becomes the subject of the sentence.

                A great deal has been written about whether one should or should not always use the subject pronouns with Spanish
                verbs, since the endings of those verbs generally specify who the subject is. Let me give you a couple of helping
                thoughts about this issue:

                In light of the issue of "yo-ismo," it´s probably better to use "yo" only for emphasis or for clarification.

                With respect to "nosotros/nosotras", there are no other verb endings which are "-amos" or "-emos" or "-imos" (in
                present tense) except those designating "we". Therefore, we can probably relegate this one to the seldom used pile
                along with "yo". It isn´t generally necessary to the meaning of a sentence, except for emphasis or clarification.

                With respect to the other subject pronouns, it becomes a matter of choice, but they are more often needed in the
                construction of a sentence for clarification than for emphasis and therefore more often used.

                However, the greatest use of these subject pronouns for you now is to help you to learn any verb conjugations you are
                of a mind to learn. My recommendation is that you learn every verb conjugation with the personal subject pronouns, in
                order to help you remember which person goes with which ending.

The Spanish Direct Object pronouns are:

                 Me                =        Me
                 Te                 =        You (familiar)
                 Lo**              =        Him
                                                 You (masculine singular, polite)
                                                  It (neuter)
                 La**              =        Her
                                                 You (feminine singular, polite)

                 Nos              =        Us
                 Los**           =        Them (masculine)
                                                 You (masculine plural, polite or familiar)
                 Las**           =        Them (feminine)
                                                 You (feminine plural, polite or familiar)

                The direct object indicates the receiver of the action indicated by the verb. For example, I could say, "I saw
                Bob," and "Bob" would become the direct object. If I replace "Bob" with "him" (the direct object pronoun), then "him"
                becomes the direct object.

                Much has been written and little resolved on this issue of "direct object pronouns," which in the strictest sense are not
                so well defined in Spanish as they are in English, making them even more confusing. Even Spanish speakers argue
                over uses of object pronouns and/or use them differently from one locale to another, even within the same country.

                How are you supposed to master something in another language that is so subject to disagreement by native
                speakers? You can´t, so don´t try. Just be consistent with your use and use my list above as the most representative.

                You will notice, if you compare my list to others you may have seen, that "vosotros" (from the subject pronoun list) and
                "os" (from the object pronoun list) are missing from my lists. Butt & Benjamin*** in their brilliant modern grammar of
                the Spanish language point out that, in Latin America, these are not heard at all and that the "ustedes" form is used for
                both polite and familiar forms of address.

                Remember that more than 90% of all Spanish speakers reside outside the country of Spain, i.e., Latin America. And,
                even in Spain, use of the ¨vosotros¨ is NOT universal, especially in the southern portion of the country.

                The real question is where to put these object pronouns in sentence. Again, there are a number of possibilities. The

simplest

approach

and one currently in favor with the Royal Academy in Madrid is to hang the direct object pronoun on the

end of

an infinitive form of the verb or on the end of a present participle any time the construction of the sentences allows

for his choice. For example, "Voy a hacerlo" or "estoy haciendolo". This works, and it´s easy.

The real problem arises when you construct a sentence that doesn´t allow for this (i.e., there is no infinitive or present

participle). What do you do then? TRY to remember to put it in front of the principal verb of the sentence to which it

                applies, e.g., "lo hago" or "lo he visto".

                When and if you become totally confused or uncertain about where to put which pronoun, then, rather than letting your
                confusion impede your ability to communicate, you can and probably should FORGET that they even exist and let your
                listener try to try to figure it out from the context of your conversation.   The more you converse in Spanish, the better you
                will get at using these pronouns. The more you hear them used, the easier it will be for you to use them with your Spanish-
                speaking friends.

                        The Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns are:

                Me                to me                                                      AND/OR                                        a mi
                Te                 to you                                                     AND/OR                                        a ti
                Le                 to Usted                                                 AND/OR                                        a Usted
                Le                 to him                                                     AND/OR                                        a él
                Le                 to her                                                      AND/OR                                        a ella
                Nos              to us                                                        AND/OR                                        a nosotros/as
                Les               to you (plural)                                        AND/OR                                        a Ustedes
                Les               to them (masculine)                            AND/OR                                         a ellos
                Les               to them (feminine)                               AND/OR                                        a ellas

                Indirect object pronouns tell us WHO is the action indicated by the verb or "for whom," to whom," by whom," "at whom," the
               action is directed. In the sentence "Bob hit the ball to me," "to me" is the indirect object" of the verb.

                In the strictest sense of use, the Indirect Object Pronouns in the first column are used. They FOLLOW the direct object
                pronoun and the PRECEDE the verb. The form of the indirect object in the third column typically follows the verb and is
                generally used for clarification.   This form, as reflected in the left hand column is even more confusing than the direct
                object pronouns, but, as reflected in the right hand column, it is far easier to use that the direct object rponoun, simply
                because using the "a mi" form, you can use the indirect object pronouns just as you would in English. For ease of use,
                this is exactly how you should do it, just as you would in English. The problem simply arises when the Spanish speaker
                uses them: you have to interpret what is being said. The best way to do this is to ask for clarification. BUT, as I said above
                with respect to Direct Object Pronouns, when totally confused (and you WILL have days like that ), you can ignore them
                entirely.

                Examples:

                                  Bob threw the ball to Charlie.                         Bob tiró la pelota a Charlie.
                                  Bob threw it (the ball) to Charlie.                    Bob lo tiró a Charlie.
                                  Bob threw it (the ball) to him (Charlie).         Bob se (it) le (him) tiró.

                                  Note that the pronoun "lo" ("it") changes form to "se" when followed by an indirect object pronoun also beginning
                                   with "l".

                Footnotes:

                  * Some purists insist that it is not possible to speak to a Spaniard without using the "vosotros" form (and its
                  corresponding direct object form, "os"). After nearly 13 years of living Spain, I can categorically state that that is not
                  the case at all. It is clearly possible, and it is not at all unusual to hear "ustedes" used in place of "vosotros," especially
                  in the southern portions of Spain.

                  More to the point, it isn´t necessary to learn or use the "vosotros" form, in order to be able to communicate. More than
                  90% of the world´s Spanish speakers reject the use of the "vosotros" in favor of "ustedes," so why should we be any
                  different?

                  Eliminating the "vosotros" form reduces the effort of learning a verb conjugation by 16 2/3%. Our purpose here is to
                  get students communicating verbally in Spanish, not teaching them how to perfect grammar that they are probably
                  never going to really understand or need.

                  ** Purists also will argue that "le" and "les" also are direct object pronouns. Not everyone entirely agrees with this position,
                  myself included, although there is a body of practical evidence produced by some native speakers to support this thesis. This, however,
                  is not really to the point.

                  Arguments over grammatical points on which there are disagreements even among the academic community are clearly
                  counter-productive to the issue of learning to converse in Spanish. It is easier to have one clear cut concept (even if it is not perfect)
                  to follow as a guide than to get confused over these grammatical subtleties. In my opinion, it isn´t worth the beginning students´ efforts
                  to try to deal with them.

                  Clearly, not everyone will agree with my "throwing the grammar book out the window," and that is their prerogative. But, the proof is in
                  the pudding. My students are able to converse easily and accurately in Spanish within a period of one to three weeks. Some will go
                  on to read and write in the language and will wish to perfect their grammar, but most will not.

                  For the vast majority of Spanish students, the objective is and always will be simply to be able to GET BY in Spanish, to
                  communicate effectively. This does not require perfect grammar.

                  *** A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish by John Butt & Carmen Benjamin, page 138, paragraph 11.7.1, Note (iii).