Indirect Objects & Pronouns

An indirect object is the person or thing for whom an action is being or has been performed, usually indicated in English by the words “to” or “for.”

For instance, take a look at the following sentence:

Jenny is writing a letter to her father.

The subject in this sentence is “Jenny,” and the verb is “is writing.” The direct object is “letter.” The indirect object—the person or thing for whom the action is being performed—is “father.”

You could also say the sentence in the following way:

Jenny is writing a letter to him.

Him refers to Jenny’s father. In this sentence, the indirect object noun has been replaced by a pronoun.

You can do the same thing in Spanish, if you know the indirect object pronouns.

Subject Pronoun	Indirect Object pronouns
Yo	Me
Tú	Te
Él, ella, usted	Le
Nosotros	Nos
Vosotros	Os
Ellos, ellas, uds.	Les

Note: There are no masculine or feminine Indirect Object Pronouns - only singular or plural.

Unlike in English, the indirect object pronouns go directly before the verb. If the sentence is negative (has a “no” in it), the indirect object pronoun still goes directly before the verb

No voy a invitar a Pedro y Ernesto a la fiesta.
- I’m not going to invite Peter and Ernest to the party.
No les voy a invitar a la fiesta.
- I’m not going to invite them to the party.

3. Lupe está hablando con nosotros
- Lupe is talking with us.
Lupe nos está hablando.
- Lupe is talking with us.

To Whom? Adding Clarity to “Le” and “Les”

As you can see in the table above, when you use the indirect pronouns le or les, you could be referring to anyone: you, him, her, them! English is much more specific than Spanish in that sense. For that reason, if it is unknown or unclear to whom the indirect object pronoun is referring, it’s a good idea to use proper nouns in addition to the indirect object pronoun.

You can also use the indirect object noun in addition to the pronoun if you want to emphasize to whom or for whom the action is occurring.

Por ejemplo:

Te invito a ti y nadie más.
- I’m inviting you and no one else.

A Note of Caution Indirect object pronouns in the “yo,” “tú,” “nosotros,” and “vosotros” forms are identical to reflexive pronouns! Their uses are quite different, however, so the only way you’ll be able to tell the difference is by the context of the sentence.