Download Object Pronouns

Object Pronouns
1. Introduction
In order to learn pronouns, you need to be familiar some basic
syntax concepts such as subject and object. The subject is the
part of the sentence that does the action. The object is the part of
the sentence that receives the action. In the sentence Yo como pan (I
eat some bread), for instance, Yo is the subject and pan is the
object.
The object can also be direct, indirect or reflexive. The
direct object answers the question what? whereas the indirect
object answers the question to/from whom? In the sentence I give
you a book, I is the subject, you is the indirect object and a book is
the direct object. The reflexive object is used when someone
does something to themselves, as in I wash myself, where I would
be the subject and myself the reflexive object.
Other key concepts are article and pronoun. An article precedes a noun, whereas a
pronoun replaces the noun. If I say The book is thick, so I carry it in a big backpack, The words
the and a are articles because they precede the nouns book and backpack. The word it is a
pronoun because it replaces the book. Actually, it is a direct-object pronoun (what do I
carry? –I carry it). In some languages like Finnish, the articles and pronouns can have
similar forms or there might not be articles at all. Therefore the confusion.
So why the hell are object pronouns so important in this course?
Spanish speakers adress others much more directly than the Finns in a discussion. The
interaction is very lively and everyone wants to make their point clear. As a result, object
pronouns are continuously used to have the audience follow the speech. In cultures
where people talk in a very organised and predictable way these pronouns might seem
irrelevant, but if you want people to understand you in Spanish, object pronouns provide
a quick way to always let them know to whom and what you are talking about. And that
allways takes place in that specific order: first to whom and then what.
Los pronombres objeto, por Javier González García
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2. The pronouns
This is a comprehensive table of subject and object pronouns. You already know the
subject pronouns, but they are shown again to make the difference obvious. You will
notice all object pronouns are the same in Spanish except for the 3rd person forms.
Pronombres sujeto
Español
yo
tú
él/ella
nosotros/-as
vosotros/-as
ellos/-as
Finés
minä
sinä
hän/se
me
te
he/ne
Inglés
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
Pronombres objeto
Español
Pronombres
reflexivos
me
te
se
nos
os
se
Pronombres de
objeto directo
me
te
lo, la
nos
os
los, las
Pronombres de
objeto indirecto
me
te
le
nos
os
les
Finés
Refleksiivipronominit
Inglés
Reflexive
Pronouns
itselleni/itseltäni/itseäni/itsekseni
myself
itsellesi/itseltäsi/itseäsi/itseksesi
yourself
itselleen/itseltään/itseään/itsekseen
him-/herself/itself
itsellemme/itseltämme/itseämme/itseksemme ourselves
itsellenne/itseltänne/itseänne/itseksenne
yourselves
itselleen/itseltään/itseään/itsekseen
themselves
Suorakohdepronominit
Direct-Object
Pronouns
minut/minua
me
sinut/sinua
you
hänet/häntä/sen/sitä
him, her, it
meidät/meitä
us
teidät/teitä
you
heidät/heitä/ne/niitä
them
Epäsuorakohdepronominit
Indirect-Object
Pronouns
minulle/minulta
me
sinulle/sinulta
you
hänelle/häneltä/sille/siltä
him, her, it
meille/meiltä
us
teille/teiltä
you
heille/heiltä/niille/niiltä
them
Some examples
Please, note these examples might not work the
same way in your language.
Reflexivos
- Os ducháis. (You all shower yourselves.)
- Se esconden. (They hide themselves.)
Objeto directo
- ¿Me ayudas? (Do you help me?)
- Nos esperan en el trabajo. (They wait for us at work.)
- Ella te llama por teléfono. (She calls you by phone.)
Objeto indirecto
- Le doy el libro (I give him/her the book.)
- No te pregunta nada. (He/she does not ask you anything.)
Los pronombres objeto, por Javier González García
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Do you see the difference? It is important that you do not mix the subject and the
object. If you think that Me ayudas means I help just because me is somehow related to the
first person, that’s a bad start. The subject pronouns are only used for emphasis, so you
need the verb to tell you who does the thing. Only then you can look at the pronouns in
order to learn to whom something is done and what is done.
Now try to answer this question: Is la the same thing in the following sentences? Why?
-
¿Compras la casa?
Sí, la compro.
If you can see the difference, you are ready to continue.
The reflexive: Here is a short list of verbs that usually come with a reflexive pronoun.
Note that the focus is always on the person. You wouldn’t normally say Peino mi pelo
(litterally “I comb my hair) other than in very formal, poetic speech. Instead, we say Me
peino or Me peino el pelo (litterally: “I comb myself” or “I comb myself the hair”. Note also
that this use of the reflexive pronoun makes de possessive article mi useless.
Verbos reflexivos
Español
acostarse (o  ue)
afeitarse
dedicarse (a)
despertarse (e  ie)
dormirse (o  ue)
ducharse
irse
lavarse (los dientes)
levantarse
llamarse
maquillarse
peinarse
ponerse nervioso
sentarse (e  ie)
vestirse (e  i)
Finés
mennä nukkumaan (‘mennä makuulle.’)
ajaa partaa
omistautua (johonkin)
herätä
nukahtaa
käydä suihkussa (‘suihkuttaa itseään’)
lähteä
pestä (hampaat)
nousta
‘kutsua itseään joksikin’
meikata
kammata (‘itseään’)
hermostua
istuutua
pukeutua
Inglés
to go to bed (‘to lay oneself’)
to shave
to devote oneself (to something)
to wake up
to fall asleep (dormir = sleep)
to have a shower (‘to shower oneself’)
to leave
to wash (your teeth)
to get up
‘to call oneself something’
to put some make-up on
to comb (‘yourself’)
to become nervous
to sit down
to dress up
3. Their place in the sentence
The object pronouns are placed right before the
Sentarse
verb. Of course there are some exceptions (namely
three) but you only need to know one of them: when yo me siento nosotros nos sentamos
vosotros os sentáis
the verb is in the base form the pronoun is glued to tú te sientas
él
se
sienta
ellos se sientan
the end. Let’s take the reflexive verb sentarse (to sit
down), for instance. Sentarse is a verb in the base form, but it uses a reflexive pronoun se.
When the verb bends the pronoun jumps back to the space right before the verb.
Los pronombres objeto, por Javier González García
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In a sentence object pronouns work the same way.
-
Ducharse a menudo es bueno. (Having a shower often is good.)
Hoy no me ducho. (Today I am not having a shower.)
When there is a two-verb phrase, usually one of the verbs is conjugated and the other
is in the base form. In such cases you have the choice.
-
Quiero ayudarte or Te quiero ayudar. (I want to help you.)
No voy a escucharos or No os voy a escuchar. (I am not going to listen to you.)
Both ways are correct but placing pronouns before the verb is slightly more relaxed and
colloquial. You only have to make sure that, whatever the place, there isn’t anything
between the pronouns and the verb. You can’t say for instance *te no quiero. The object
pronouns are stressless and they can’t be pronounced properly if they don’t lean on the
verb’s strong syllable.
4. Extra pronouns
Sometimes the grammar rules make it compulsory to use a pronoun,
although it does not add any new meaning. There are two cases:
1. When the indirect object is specified, the pronoun is also
needed.
- ¿Vas a darles el dinero a tus padres? (Are you going to give the
money to your parents?)
- ¿Qué le gusta a Juan? (What does Juan like? or literally ‘What does please Juan’).
In these examples we should not need to say to them or to him, because we already specify
to whom. However, knowing whom does the action concern is so important we have to
confirm it with the pronoun, in order to have people follow our speech.
2. When the word todo (everything/all) is the object, we need to add lo.
-
Lo quiero todo. (I want it all.)
Voy a terminarlo todo hoy. (I am going to finish everything/it all today.)
BUT: Todo me molesta. (Everything bothers me. Here, todo is the subject.)
Los pronombres objeto, por Javier González García
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5. Pronoun order
Remember the right order always is to whom and then what. If you have two
pronouns, both have be together either before a conjugated verb or after a
verb in the base form.
Some examples:
Indirect-object + direct-object pronoun
-
Te lo prometo. (‘I promise it to you.’)
Reflexive + direct-object pronoun
-
Se hace el café => Se lo hace. (He makes the coffee => He makes it for him/herself). Note again the possessive article is useless here.
Indirect-object + direct-object pronoun with a two-verb phrase
-
Nos lo van a devolver mañana or Van a devolvérnoslo mañana, but NOT *Nos
van a devolverlo mañana.
6. Le and Les
This is the most difficult rule for foreigners. Le and Les change into se when placed
before a direct-object pronoun. Here are some examples.
-
Le lo doy. => Se lo doy. (I give it to him/her.)
Les las dan (las llaves.) => Se las dan. (They give them to them – the keys.)
7. Prepositional forms for emphasis
Since the object pronouns are used all the time, we use a + the pronouns’
prepositional forms on top of everything whenever a real emphasis is needed.
-
A mí me gusta. (I like it, literally ‘It pleases me’.)
Os hablo a vosotros. (I am talking to you.)
Te lo prometo a ti, no a ellos. (I promise you,
not them.)
Los pronombres objeto, por Javier González García
Formas preposicionales
Reflexivas
De objeto directo
e indirecto
a mí
a mí
a ti
a ti
a sí
a él/ella
a nosotros/-as a nosotros/-as
a vosotros/-as a vosotros/-as
a ellos/-as
a ellos/-as
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