47 Indirect Object Pronouns

The indirect object is the person or thing involved in or affected by the action in a secondary capacity. It frequently answers the questions to whom?, for whom? or from whom?. Note, however, that in Spanish the indirect object noun is preceded by the preposition a, regardless of the corresponding English preposition.

Los niños le llevan regalos a su amiguito.  The children take gifts to their friend.

Ellos le piden dinero al gobierno.  They request money from the government.

Paula les abre la puerta a los niños.  Paula is opening the door for the children.

As you can see from the examples, both an indirect object pronoun and an indirect object noun frequently appear together in the same sentence, especially when the indirect object is being mentioned for the first time. Once the meaning of the indirect pronoun is clear, however, the indirect object noun can be dropped.

With verbs whose meaning involves written or oral communication, what is being communicated is the direct object; the person to whom the message is given is the indirect object. Verbs of this kind include: admitir, contestar, decir, escribir, gritar, hablar, preguntar, telefonear.

Comprendo el ruso pero no lo hablo.

Mi madre es mi mejor amiga y le hablo todos los días.

¿El informe? Lo vas a escribir?

¿Tu amiga? ¿Le vas a escribir?