In this Spanish grammar lesson, you will learn how to use Spanish indirect object pronouns.
In this lesson you will learn about:
- what Spanish indirect object pronouns are
- how to use Spanish indirect object pronouns
- how Spanish indirect object pronouns are used in sentences in Spanish
- how you can quiz yourself on Spanish indirect object pronouns
- how you can practice with flashcards on Spanish indirect object pronouns
- how and why you should use the courses of Language Atlas to learn Spanish
By the end of the lesson you will know all about Spanish indirect object pronouns!
Table of Contents
Table of Subject Pronouns and Indirect Object Pronouns
| Personal Pronoun | Spanish Indirect Object Pronoun | English Indirect Object Pronoun |
| yo | me | (to/for) me |
| tú | te | (to/for) you |
| él/usted | le | (to/for) him/it/you |
| ella/usted | le | (to/for) her/it/you |
| nosotros/nosotras | nos | (to/for) us |
| vosotros/vosotras | os | (to/for) you |
| ellas/ustedes | les | (to/for) them/you |
| ellas/ustedes | les | (to/for) them/you |
What are Indirect Object Pronouns?
You may read “indirect object pronouns” and wonder if this could ever make sense.
However, it is actually really easy to understand.
Have a look at the two examples:
A: She gave John a pen.
B: Who did she give a pen to?
A: Him.
A: We bought a present for all of my colleagues.
B: Who did you buy a present for?
A: Them.
You can see in the first example that a pen is given to John.
Rather than repeat his name, you can refer to John as “him“.
You can see in the second example that a present is bought for all of my colleagues.
Rather than name them all individually, you can say “them“.
Him and them are examples of indirect object pronouns.
Indirect object pronouns show you to whom or for whom an action is done.
How to use Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns: Le and Les
| Spanish Masculine/Feminine | English | |
| Singular | le | (to/for) him/her/it/you |
| Plural | les | (to/for) them/you |
The indirect object pronouns are used to replace people, animals, and things that are introduced by the preposition “a”.
The “a” in Spanish is the equivalent of “to” and “for” in English.
In this part of the lesson we are only going to focus on two of them, le and les.
¿Has invitado a tu tío a la boda? – Claro, le he invitado.
Did you invite your uncle to the wedding? – Of course, I invited him.
¿Puedes vestir al niño? – Claro, yo le visto.
Can you dress the kid? – Sure, I’ll dress him.
Su vecino le ha denunciado por hacer mucho ruído.
His neighbour has reported him for making too much noise.
¿Le has preguntado a tus padres si puedes quedarte? -Sí, les he preguntado.
Have you asked your parents if you can stay? -Yes, I have asked them.
Gracias Señor López, le paso la llamada.
Thank you Mr Lopez, I’ll pass the call on to you.
¿Es su primera vez en Madrid? Les recomiendo visitar el Museo del Prado.
Is this your first time in Madrid? I recommend a visit to the Prado Museum.
Les enviamos varios paquetes con libros.
We sent them several boxes of books.
You will also see the noun and the indirect object pronoun that replaces it in the same sentence in Spanish.
You do this to place an extra emphasis:
Les compramos regalos a los niños.
We bought presents for the children.
Le escribió una carta a su abuela.
He wrote a letter to his grandmother.
Les leí a mis hijos el libro de Harry Potter.
I read the Harry Potter book to my children.
You may think now that you can only use Spanish indirect object pronouns to refer to people.
However, you can also use it to refer to things:
La sopa está riquísima, ¿qué lleva? – Le he echado cebolla, tomate y pimiento.
The soup is delicious, what’s in it? – I’ve added onion, tomato and pepper.
He regado las plantas. Les eché agua.
I have watered the plants. I watered them.
How to use Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns: Me, Te, Nos, Os
| Spanish Indirect Object Pronoun | English Indirect Object Pronoun |
| me | (to/for) me |
| te | (to/for) you |
| nos | (to/for) us |
| os | (to/for) you |
As you already know, the indirect object pronouns are used to replace people, animals, and things that are introduced by the preposition “a”.
The “a” in Spanish is the equivalent of “to” and “for” in English.
Now we will focus on the rest of the indirect object pronouns.
Camila me trajo un ramo de flores por mi cumpleaños.
Camila brought me a bouquet of flowers for my birthday.
¿Te llamó la directora?
Did the director call you? (=tú)
Tus amigos nos acercaron a casa en su coche.
Your friends gave us a lift home in their car.
Os dejo la comida preparada en el horno.
I’ll leave the food prepared in the oven (=vosotros).
Example Sentences on Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns
This section of the lesson on Spanish indirect object pronouns is about seeing them used in sentences.
This is valuable because you can improve your understanding of Spanish indirect object pronouns through examples.
¿Has invitado a tu tío a la boda? – Claro, le he invitado.
Did you invite your uncle to the wedding? – Of course, I invited him.
¿Puedes vestir al niño? – Claro, yo le visto.
Can you dress the kid? – Sure, I’ll dress him.
Su vecino le ha denunciado por hacer mucho ruído.
His neighbour has reported him for making too much noise.
¿Le has preguntado a tus padres si puedes quedarte? -Sí, les he preguntado.
Have you asked your parents if you can stay? -Yes, I have asked them.
Gracias Señor López, le paso la llamada.
Thank you Mr Lopez, I’ll pass the call on to you.
¿Es su primera vez en Madrid? Les recomiendo visitar el Museo del Prado.
Is this your first time in Madrid? I recommend a visit to the Prado Museum.
Les enviamos varios paquetes con libros.
We sent them several boxes of books.
Les compramos regalos a los niños.
We bought presents for the children.
Le escribió una carta a su abuela.
He wrote a letter to his grandmother.
Les leí a mis hijos el libro de Harry Potter.
I read the Harry Potter book to my children.
La sopa está riquísima, ¿qué lleva? – Le he echado cebolla, tomate y pimiento.
The soup is delicious, what’s in it? – I’ve added onion, tomato and pepper.
He regado las plantas. Les eché agua.
I have watered the plants. I watered them.
Camila me trajo un ramo de flores por mi cumpleaños.
Camila brought me a bouquet of flowers for my birthday.
¿Te llamó la directora?
Did the director call you? (=tú)
Tus amigos nos acercaron a casa en su coche.
Your friends gave us a lift home in their car.
Os dejo la comida preparada en el horno.
I’ll leave the food prepared in the oven (=vosotros).
Quiz Yourself on Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns
At the end of every lesson you can do a small quiz.
You will see the sentences of the previous chapter.
You will either need to fill in the blanks, choose the correct multiple choice option, or both.
Once you are done the correct answer will be shown.
You can redo the quiz as many times as you want!
How to Practice With Flashcards for This Lesson
Using flashcards is an absolute necessity when it comes to learning a language!
It is the best way to memorize what you learn, you can personalize your progression because it adapts to your actions, and all flashcards have audio to improve your hearing and pronunciation.
Please read our article on how to learn a new language for more information on flashcards and the best way to learn a new language.
There are two ways to practice with Flashcards for this lesson.
- Anki
- The Flashcards in our Courses
Anki is a free software with which you can create and practice flashcards.
After you have downloaded Anki for free, you can get our Spanish A2 Anki Deck.
This Anki Deck contains 3,568 flashcards with which you can practice absolutely everything for Spanish A2.
All the flashcards have text, images, explanations, and audio.
You can also use our courses that have flashcards integrated alongside lessons with audio, quizzes and much more!
However, I am sure you are wondering, what are your courses, and why should I take them?
The Courses of Language Atlas
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I have been learning languages for over 20+ years and I was always frustrated with books, courses, and classes that I had tried.
It never really seemed to work for me.
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Using my experience and by doing research I created Language Atlas, a platform where people can learn French and Spanish in the most effective and efficient way.
I created free lessons and quizzes so that there would always be an easy and accessible way for people to learn or brush up on their language skills.
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