Lesson 37

Lo and Le: What, To Whom

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

This is a crucial distinction that takes practice:

Lo/la/los/las = the person or thing directly receiving the action (direct object): I see him → Lo veo. I cook them → Los cocino.

Le/les = the person something is done TO or FOR (indirect object): I give to him → Le doy. I speak to them → Les hablo. I cook for him → Le cocino algo.

The test: if you can add "to" or "for" before the person, use le/les. If the person IS what the action is done to, use lo/la/los/las. "I cook him" (directly cooking a person) → lo cocino. "I cook him something" (cooking for him) → le cocino algo.

Remember: me, te, nos don't change. Whether it's "me" or "to me" or "for me" — it's always just me. This only matters for the third person.

Algo = something. Cocinar = to cook (cocina = kitchen, add -r). Decir = to say/tell. Me doy cuenta = I realize ("I give myself account"). ¿Te das cuenta? = Do you realize? (very common conversationally).

Double pronouns always put the personal one first: me lo, te lo, nos lo, nos las.

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
Daré.	I'll give.
Daremos.	We'll give.
Dará.	He'll give.
Darán.	They'll give.
Darás.	You'll give.
¿Me lo darán?	Will you guys give it to me? (masculine thing)
¿Me la darán?	Will you guys give it to me? (feminine thing)
Te darán algo.	They'll give you something.
Te lo darán.	They'll give it to you.
Nos lo darán.	They'll give it to us.
No nos lo darán.	They won't give it to us.
Me doy cuenta.	I realize.
Te das cuenta.	You realize.
¿Te das cuenta?	Do you realize?
Nos damos cuenta.	We realize.
Lo doy.	I give it.
Los doy.	I give them. (direct)
Les doy.	I give to them.
Les doy algo.	I'm giving them something. (indirect)
Hablo.	I speak.
Le he hablado.	I have spoken to him/her.
Le hemos hablado.	We have spoken to him/her.
Ha hablado.	He has spoken.
Han hablado.	They have spoken.
Lo han hablado.	They have spoken about it.
Le han hablado.	They have spoken to him/her.
Les han hablado.	They have spoken to them.
Lo veo.	I see him/it.
La veo.	I see her/it.
Las veo.	I see them (f).
Me cocina algo.	He's cooking me something.
Nos cocina algo.	He's cooking us something.
Te cocina algo.	He's cooking you something.
Le cocina algo.	He's cooking him something.
Les cocina algo.	He's cooking them something.
Los cocina.	He's cooking them. (masculine/mixed things being cooked)
Las cocina.	He's cooking them. (feminine things being cooked)
Nos las cocina.	He's cooking them for us.
Le hablo.	I speak to him.
Les hablo.	I speak to them.
Les hablan.	They speak to them.