To Me, To You, To Him, To Her, etc.: Indirect Object Pronouns I

The indirect object is the noun that indirectly receives the action of a verb. In the sentence

  • Isabel sings a song to the audience.
    Isabel canta una canción al público.

Isabel -- the subject -- sings/canta -- the verb -- a song/una canción -- the direct object -- to the audience/al público -- the indirect object.

Public/público is what INDIRECTLY receives the action of Isabel's singing. Public/público is the indirect object.

Here is another example:

  • My friend reads the newspaper to his wife.
    Mi amigo lee el periódico a su mujer.

Wife/mujer INDIRECTLY receives the action of reading. Wife/mujer is the indirect object.

The indirect object answers the questions:

  • To what? To what did Isabel sing? To the audience.
    To whom? To whom is your friend reading? To his wife.

In order to avoid repetition, we often replace the indirect object noun with a indirect object pronoun:

  • Isabel sings the song to them.
    Isabel les canta la cancion.

    My friend reads the newspaper to her.
    Mi amigo le lee el peródico.

Indirect object pronouns do not depend on the grammatical gender of the noun: le is for both masculine and feminine singular (including Ud.), and les for masculine and feminine plural (including Uds.).

Here are the indirect object pronouns:

me = to menos = to us
te = to youos = to you-all
le = to him/her, you (formal)      les = to them, you-all (formal)
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