Indirect Object Pronouns: Objetos Indirectos (Complementos Indirectos)

What's an Indirect Object?

Whereas direct objects answer the questions "what?" or "who?" receives the action of the verb, indirect objects (IOs) answer "to whom?" or "for whom?" the direct object is for. To identify IOs, read the sentence, then ask yourself "who receives the direct object" or "to whom/ for whom"? The answer to that question is an indirect object:

Note: Occasionally an indirect object will answer the question "from whom?" Le robaron el dinero. (They stole the money from him.)

Indirect object pronouns (IOPs) are shorter words that replace indirect objects. In the following examples, (referencing the sentences above) indirect object nouns have been replaced with indirect object pronouns:

They returned the book to her.
We gave the photos to them.
She sent the letter to him.

Note: Sentences with an indirect object usually also have a direct object.

Indirect Object Pronouns in Spanish

If we want to replace an indirect object with a pronoun, we need to use an indirect object pronoun (IOP) from the Spanish chart below:

Chart showing English and Spanish indirect object pronouns.

Note: Don't confuse indirect object pronouns with reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se.

IOPs also agree in person and number (but not gender) with the nouns they replace:

you → te
us → nos
her → le
them → les

In English, there is no difference between direct and indirect object pronouns. In Spanish, however, DOPs and IOPs have differences in the third-person row. This makes using object pronouns in Spanish very difficult as you need to know what kind of object you're dealing with before you can translate.

Note that there are no gender distinctions with indirect object pronouns. The pronoun le can mean either "to him" or "to her."

How to Use Indirect Object Pronouns (IOPs) in Spanish

Just like with direct object pronouns, we place our indirect object pronouns in front of the verb. For example:

English sentence examples and then the same sentences in Spanish showing that indirect object pronouns are placed in front of the verb in a sentence.

Notice once again that the pronoun le can mean either "to her" or "to him."

In Spanish, we use indirect object pronouns to express "to" or "for" to whom something is done. There is a presentation below which describes how sentences are structured using indirect object pronouns. Take notes as you view the material as you will be responsible for the content. Be sure your speakers are turned up!

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Indirect Object Pronouns

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Indirect Objects Made Easy With a Song!

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Indirect Objects Practice

Test your knowledge of indirect objects with the following activities.

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