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I, he, you, they and us are all pronouns. This quiz will help you to use them correctly when speaking Spanish.

Grammar - The Indirect Object Pronouns

This Spanish Medium Review quiz will help you review what an indirect object pronoun is and how it works. However, before doing that, you must first know and understand what a direct object is.

DIRECT OBJECT

A direct object is a noun found within a sentence that has a verb that directly relates to it. In other words, the verb tells you what the action of that noun is. For example, let’s look at the short sentence that says: John jumps.

John is the noun and, therefore, the direct object found in the sentence. Jumps is the verb that tells you what John is doing.

Now let’s look at the same sentence only this time we will replace John with an appropriate pronoun. What would be the pronoun for John? That would be he. Now our sentence will read: He jumps. In this case, the pronoun is the direct object.

INDIRECT OBJECT

Okay, now let’s take a look at what an indirect object of a sentence is. An indirect object is a noun or a pronoun that is affected by a verb but the verb does not show the action of that noun/object or pronoun. Sound confusing? Well, let’s look at an example then.

Take the sentence: I love Christmas. In this little sentence, Christmas is a noun or object in the sentence but it is not Christmas that is taking the action as it is not doing the loving. Rather, Christmas is the indirect object because it is being loved and not doing the loving. In other words, Christmas is being acted upon. The pronoun of 'I' is the direct object that is doing the loving.

DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

Okay, let’s look at yet another sentence. Let’s look at: I love her. Once again the pronoun of 'I' is taking the action making it the direct object pronoun. Now look at the pronoun of her. This pronoun is not taking any action but is being acted upon. Therefore, the pronoun of her is an indirect object pronoun in this sentence.

One way to easily determine whether a pronoun is being acted upon is to use the words 'to' or 'for' before the pronoun. For example: I am giving my love to her. In Spanish, this would be said as: Le doy mi amor. The Spanish word 'le' is an indirect object pronoun that replaces the words 'to her'. Notice that 'le' comes before the verb in the sentence and not after 'my love'. This is because in Spanish, it would be said as: To her I give my love.

Now, let’s look at the following indirect object pronouns.

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

Singular

ENGLISH	SPANISH	MEANING
me	me	me / to me / for me
you	te	you / to you / for you (singular familiar), relates to tú
you	le	him / to him / for him / her / to her / for her / it / to it / for it / you / to you / for you (singular formal) relates to usted

Plural

ENGLISH	SPANISH	MEANING
us	nos	us / to us / for us
you	os	you / to you / for you (plural familiar), relates to vosotros / vosotras
you	les	them / to them / for them / you / to you / for you / all, relates to ustedes (plural formal)

NOTE: When a sentence contains both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun that are connected to the same verb, the indirect object pronoun gets written and spoken first. For example: 'I write you' would be shown as 'Te yo escribo' in Spanish. This translates as: You I write. Here, 'you' is the indirect object pronoun and 'I' is the direct object pronoun.

USING SE IN SPANISH

NOTE: In Spanish you will often see and hear the word 'se'. Se is the same as le. In a sentence when two indirect object pronouns or an indirect and direct object pronoun are beside each other and they both begin with the letter L (for example: I am going to give it to him would be stated as: Le lo voy a dar), then le should become se because to say 'le lo' or to write it as such does not sound or look proper. When this happens, le is changed to se so that it now reads: Se lo voy a dar.

Always use se before the object pronouns lo, la, los and las. Note that se remains the same spelling whether or not the object pronoun is singular or plural. It is a bit confusing now but as you start to read, write and speak Spanish, it will become easier and more natural to you.

Now, let’s move on down to the quiz. As this is all new to you, please take as much time as you need to complete the quiz. Go at your own pace. Do not rush through. Read each of the ten quiz sentences. In each sentence the indirect object pronoun has been shown in all capitalized letters. From the answers provided, see if you can determine which indirect object pronoun should be used in place of the capitalized indirect object pronoun.

1 .

He buys ME flowers.

The indirect object pronoun for me is me. In Spanish, this sentence would read: Me compra flores. Notice that the indirect object pronoun goes directly in front of the verb. The Spanish translation reads: To me he buys flowers.

2 .

She gives HER money.

ella

The second answer is the definite feminine article for the. The third answer is the pronoun for she. The last answer is an indirect object pronoun that is used in front of lo, la, los and las but neither of those are being used here. The first answer means 'to her'. The sentence in Spanish would read: Ella le da dinero. This translates as: She to her gives money.

3 .

Daddy throws a fish to HIM.

les

The first answer means 'to you' (plural familiar). The third answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). The last answer means 'to them' and the second answer means 'to him'. In Spanish this would read as: Papá le lanza un pez. Notice that le comes directly before the verb.

4 .

She writes THEM a letter.

les

nos

The first answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). The third answer means 'to us'. The last answer means 'to you' (plural familiar) and the second answer means 'to them'. In Spanish, this sentence would read as: Les escribe una carta. This translates as: To them she writes a letter.

5 .

Michael gives HER the cat.

The first answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). The second answer can mean 'to him, to her, to it, to you and to them' but in this sentence, this translation is not needed. The last answer means 'me' and is not correct. The third answer means 'to her'. In Spanish this would read as: Miguel le da el gato.

6 .

Mother speaks to US at noon.

nos

les

The second answer means 'to them'. The third answer means 'to you' (familiar plural). The last answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). The first answer means 'to us'. In Spanish this sentences would read as: Madre nos habla a mediodía.

7 .

Elizabeth is talking to YOU. (singular familiar)

The first answer means 'to him' or 'to her'. The second answer means either 'to you, to him, to her or to you' but in this sentence it is not needed. The third answer means 'to you' (plural familiar). The last answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). The sentence in Spanish would read as: Isabel te está hablando.

8 .

Daniel gives it to THEM.

nos

les

The first answer means 'to us'. The second answer means 'to them'. The third answer means 'to him' or 'to her'. The last answer means 'to them'. In Spanish, this sentence would be: Danilo se lo da. The word lo is the direct object for it. As them would be les, it would not be proper to say: Danilo les lo da. In this case, les is changed to se.

9 .

Peter sends it to YOU. (plural familiar)

les

The first answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). The third answer means 'to you' (singular formal). The last answer means 'to them' and the second answer means 'to you' (plural familiar). Translated into Spanish this sentence reads as: Pedro os lo envía.

10 .

He brings candy to THEM.

les

The first answer means 'to him' or 'to her' or 'to them' but in this sentence it is not needed. The second answer means 'to me'. Again, this is not needed here. The last answer means 'to you' (singular familiar). That is not what is needed here. The third answer means 'to them'. In Spanish this sentence would read as: Les trae dulce.

Author: Christine G. Broome