Indirect Object Pronouns Spanish: The Ultimate Guide (Theory + Examples)
Spanish native speakers constantly use direct and indirect object pronouns Spanish.
However, if you’d ask them to explain what they are (or worse – how they are used), they’d often struggle to give you a coherent answer.
Time to change that and give you a full, in-depth understanding of indirect object pronouns in Spanish – and plenty of chunks so you can start using them in conversations right away, even as a Spanish beginner.
Ready?
1. What Are Indirect Object Pronouns in Spanish?
To keep it simple, let’s say that indirect object pronouns replace the indirect object in a sentence; the entity, subject, animal, thing, or place to whom a certain action was performed.
That’s the confusing linguistic explanation. As always, it’s easier to just look at an example.
Like this one:
- Dieron un premio a Rafael. (They gave a prize to Rafael.)
- Le dieron un premio. (They gave him a prize.)
To whom did they give a prize? → to Rafael. So Rafael is the indirect object in this sentence.
In English, you link sentences together (and make them easier to read) by replacing “to Rafael” with “him”. You can do the same in Spanish: you replace a Rafael with “le”: the indirect object pronoun.
In a moment, I’ll show you a full overview of the indirect object pronouns in singular and plural, and when to use them.
First, it’s important to understand that indirect object pronouns are often used with a special kind of verbs. Let’s have a look at the table below to see what verbs these are.
Special kind of verbs often used with indirect object pronouns
Spanish | English |
---|---|
Dar | To give |
Decir | To say |
Hablar | To talk |
Explicar | To explain |
Contar | To tell |
Dejar | To leave |
Please note that there are many more verbs like these ones.
And, all of them can affect indirectly something or someone. Usually (but not always) you can just ask the question “To whom?” and that will usually give you the indirect object that you can then replace by an indirect object pronoun in Spanish.
If you want to practice identifying indirect object pronouns (and other parts of speech), you might like this exercise from the University of Wisconsin.
2. Remember the 6 Indirect Object Pronouns in Spanish
Generally speaking, there are 6 indirect object pronouns. Of course, there are singular and plural pronouns. Let’s see first the singular ones in the table below.
Singular Spanish indirect object pronouns
Singular | Meaning |
---|---|
Me | Relating to A mí (to me) |
Te | Relating to a tí (to you) |
Le | Relating to a él, ella, usted (to him/her/formal you) |
Now, let’s see the plural ones.
Plural Spanish indirect object pronouns
Plural | Meaning |
---|---|
Nos | Relating to a nosotros (to us) |
Les | Relating to a ustedes (to plural you/them) |
Finally, there’s the indirect object pronoun “se” which isn’t listed in the tables above but it’s extremely important (more about that in a second).
3. Indirect Objects Spanish: Placement
There are many expressions and phrases you can build using indirect object pronouns in Spanish. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that, usually, Spanish speakers place indirect object pronouns before the verb in Spanish.
That’s different from the English indirect object, which people place after the verb.
Let’s see an example.
Mi amiga me cuenta sus problemas. – (My friend tells me her problems.)
See?
The indirect object pronoun “me” goes before the verb “contar” in Spanish but after the verb “to tell” in English.
Exception: when using the imperativo, you place the indirect object pronoun in Spanish right after the verb. For example dime (tell me) or dame (give me).
4. Common Sentences Using Indirect Object Pronouns Spanish
Piecing together sentences with indirect object pronouns in a conversation can feel like you’re performing higher math. Your brain just isn’t made to think of all these rules while speaking.
That’s why it’s much easier to memorize a couple of common chunks (or patterns) that contain indirect object pronouns and that you KNOW are correct, so you don’t have to think about any grammar rules at all.
This is the idea behind Conversation Based Chunking: imprint pre-built patterns on your brain that you can use in conversations right away, so grammar rules become irrelevant.
Let’s see some structures using some of the verbs mentioned in the first section.
Spanish structures using special verbs
Spanish | English |
---|---|
Dale/Dame + object | Give him/her me + object |
Regalale/Regalame + object | Gift him / her / me / object |
Te/le cuento que… | I tell you/him/her that… |
Me/ Te/ Le / Nos dejas… | Can you leave me/you/him/us… |
Te/Le dije que… | I told you/him/her that… |
Les /Te/ Le/ Me/ Nos explicaron como/que… | They explained to them/you/him/her/me/us how/that… |
Les/Te/Le hablamos… | We talked to them/you/him/her… |
Now, let’s see some useful chunks you can use when talking to friends or just in those times when you need to express yourself:
Useful chunks when talking to friends
Spanish | English |
---|---|
Regalame un minuto | Give me a minute |
Regalale flores/algo | Give him/her flowers/something |
¡Dale! | Go ahead! |
Date cuenta | Realize |
Date prisa | Hurry up |
Dale la mano | Shake hands / Give him/her a hand. |
Me/ Te/ Le da pena hablar en publico | I/You/He is embarrassed to speak in public |
Me/Te/Le da miedo | It scares me/you/it |
Dame eso | Give me that |
Me/te dan ganas de ir a la playa/de viaje | It makes me/you want to go to the beach/on a trip |
For traveling situations, the chunks listed below will be even more useful.
Useful chunks for traveling
Spanish | English |
---|---|
¿Me explicas la dirección? | Can you explain the address to me? |
¿Me dices donde queda el baño? | Can you tell me where the bathroom is? |
Dime cuanto hay que esperar. | Tell me how long to wait. |
¿Nos explican que debemos hacer? | Do they explain to us what we should do? |
No me explicaron. | They didn’t explain to me. |
No me da tiempo. | I have no time. |
No me dejan entrar. | They won’t let me in. |
There are plenty more Spanish chunks you can use to get better and better. If you want to know more about Conversation Based Chunking, make sure to request your free Spanish Chunking Starter Pack. At Effortless conversations, you will learn with walkthrough videos, flashcard decks, recommended resources, and more.
5. How to Use the Indirect Object Pronoun “se”
The indirect object pronoun se is used in common expressions like “se lo dije” (I told him/her so). Thus, it’s quite important to understand how to use it.
You will only use se when you need to avoid structures or phrases with both direct and indirect pronouns, where Le/Les is “used” together with La/ lo/ Las/ Los.
For example:
- A: ¿Le diste la contraseña a tu mamá? – (Did you give your mom the password?)
- B: Sí, se la dí. – (Yes, I gave it to her.)
Normally, the word “se” should be “le” since it replaces “a tu mamá”. Yet, using le-la together isn’t possible in Spanish (you’d never say “le la dí”). That’s why “le” changes to “se”.
6. Practice Section – Complete the Sentences With Indirect Object Pronouns in Spanish
I. Complete the following sentences with the correct indirect object pronoun in Spanish:
Are you looking to take your Spanish language skills to the next level?
Practice makes perfect, and with our full Spanish practice worksheets, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to enhance your abilities. These worksheets cover a range of grammar, vocabulary, and conversation topics, and provide exercises to help reinforce your understanding of the language.
Get our full Spanish practice worksheets now and take the next step in your language learning journey!
7. The Importance of Indirect Object Pronouns in Learning Spanish with Chunks!
In summary, indirect object pronouns and direct object pronouns are essential for every Spanish learner. The best way to start using them in conversations is by learning some popular Spanish chunks.
If you’d like to learn more about how to learn Spanish without memorizing word lists and grammar rules, I recommend you get your Spanish Chunking Starter Pack here: