Authors: Julie Gutin
The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) (19 page)
Le regalo flores a mi novia cada cumpleaños.
I give flowers to my girlfriend every birthday.
Les pido perdón a Yolanda y su hija.
I ask Yolanda and her daughter for their forgiveness.
Te pregunto.
(no direct object)
I am asking you.
Even if the indirect object is represented by a noun, the indirect object pronoun should be added before the verb for emphasis. To review, the following are the indirect object pronouns:
Indirect Object Pronouns
| singular | plural |
| me (me) | nos (us) |
| te (you, informal) | os (you, informal in Spain) |
| le (you, formal) | les (you) |
| le (him, her, it) | les (them) |
As you may remember, direct and indirect object pronouns are identical in the first and second persons.
ESSENTIAL
If your verb is made up of two parts, an active verb and an infinitive, the object pronoun may come before the verb pair or attached to the infinitive:
Lo necesito llamar. Necesito
llamarlo.
(I need to call him.) The same applies to direct, indirect, and reflexive pronouns.
Double Pronouns
If both the direct and indirect object in the sentence are pronouns, they are placed before the verb, and the indirect object pronoun always comes first. Here’s the correct order of the sentence:
subject + indirect object pronoun + direct object pronoun + verb
It may take a while for you to get used to this order, but it’s not difficult to understand. Here are a few other examples to help you get the hang of it:
Me manda cartas cada semana. Me las manda.
He sends me letters every week. He sends them to me. (To me them he sends.)
Te explico las respuestas mañana. Te las explico.
I’ll explain you the answers tomorrow. I’ll explain them to you. (To you them I’ll explain.)
If both pronouns are in third person, the indirect object pronoun undergoes a change from
le/les
to
se.
The reason for the change is to avoid the awkward combinations like
le lo
or
les la.
Here are a few examples:
Le pago la cuenta al camarero. Se la pago.
I pay the bill (to the waiter). I pay it (to him).
Les doy una sonrisa. Se la doy.
I give them a smile. I give it to them.
A Different Kind of Construction
In Spanish, the indirect object allows us to create a construction that is best exemplified with the verb
gustar
(to like). Compare the Spanish and the English:
Me gustan los dulces.
I like sweets.
In English, the sentence is a standard subject + verb + direct object. In Spanish, though, the role of each word differs:
me
(indirect object pronoun) +
gustan
(verb) +
dulces
(subject)
In Spanish, the subject of the sentence is
dulces,
which are liked by me. This is why the verb
gustar
is conjugated in the third person plural. In fact, because the subject is always what is being liked, the verb
gustar
is limited to third-person singular (one thing) or third-person plural (more than one thing). The following table outlines the possible combinations:
| singular subject | plural subject | English |
| me gusta | me gustan | I like |
| te gusta | te gustan | you like |
| le gusta | le gustan | he, she, it likes; you like |
| nos gusta | nos gustan | we like |
| os gusta | os gustan | you like |
| les gusta | les gustan | they like; you like |
The verb
gustar
isn’t the only one to be used in this manner. Other verbs that commonly appear in this fashion are presented in the following table. The example given is in the present indicative, third-person singular subject, with
me
as the indirect object:
| infinitive | example | translation |
| convenir | me conviene | it suits me |
| encantar | me encanta | I love it |
| faltar | me falta | I lack it |
| fascinar | me fascina | it fascinates me |
| importar | me importa | it’s important to me |
| interesar | me interesa | it interests me |
| quedar | me queda | I have (it) left |
| tocar | me toca | it’s my turn |
Reflexive Verbs
If the verb’s direct object refers to the same person as the subject, the verb is said to be reflexive—you might say that the object
reflects
back to the subject. You can recognize a reflexive verb by the reflexive pronoun that comes with it. In the infinitive, reflexive verbs end in
–se.
For example,
limpiar
means “to clean (something),” but
limpiarse
is translated as “to clean (yourself).” When a reflexive verb is conjugated, it is joined by the reflexive pronoun, which serves as the verb’s object and follows the same rules as far as placement.
Reflexive Pronouns
| singular | plural |
| me (myself) | nos (ourselves) |
| te (yourself, informal) | os (yourselves, informal) |
| se (yourself, formal) | se (yourselves) |
| se (himself, herself, itself) | se (themselves) |
ESSENTIAL
Choosing the correct reflexive pronoun is easy—it should match the subject and the verb’s conjugation in person and number:
él se afeita
(he shaves himself),
nosotros nos
lavamos
(we wash ourselves).
Reflexives aren’t common in English. You could say “I know myself,” but there’s no need to say “I dress myself”—we generally use “I get dressed” instead. In Spanish, reflexives are much more common.
Reflexive Verbs
| aburrirse | to be bored |
| acordarse | to remember |
| acostarse | to go to bed |
| afeitarse | to shave |
| alegrarse | to be happy |
| bañarse | to take a bath |
| cepillarse (los dientes, el cabello) | to brush (teeth, hair) |
| enojarse | to get angry |
| enterarse | to find out |
| fiarse de | to trust |
| lavarse | to wash |
| maquillarse | to put on makeup |
| molestarse | to get annoyed |
| mudarse | to move (change residence) |
| negarse a | to refuse |
| parecerse | to resemble |
| ponerse | to put on |
| quebrarse | to break (a bone) |
| quedarse | to remain |
| quemarse | to burn (oneself) |
| quitarse | to take off |
| romperse (la ropa) | to tear (clothes) |
| vestirse | to get dressed |
Me ducho por las noches.
I take showers at night.
¿Usted se sorprende por las noticias?
Are you surprised by the news?
Some verbs are always used reflexively, but many more are reflexive only some of the time. In some cases, their meaning changes significantly. Here are some examples:
| acercar (to move something closer) | acercarse (to approach) |
| arreglar (to arrange) | arreglarse (to get ready) |
| colocar (to put) | colocarse (to get a job, to find one’s place) |
| despedir (to fire) | despedirse (to say goodbye) |
| detener (to bring to a halt) | deternerse (to come to a halt) |
| dormir (to sleep) | dormirse (to go to sleep) |
| lastimar (to hurt) | lastimarse (to bother oneself) |
| levantar (to raise, pick up) | levantarse (to get up) |
| reunir (to join, gather) | reunirse (to get together) |
It’s Reciprocal
Reflexive constructions are also used to indicate reciprocity. In English, this is done with the phrase “each other.” A good example is the verb
casarse
(to get married):
Nos casamos hoy.
We are getting married today. (We are marrying each other today.)
In this case,
nos
is used reciprocally, rather than reflexively. Otherwise the sentence would mean “We are marrying ourselves today.”
FACT
