Spanish language Q&A Forum

I’m confused, is there another way to determine when to use a direct or indirect pronoun? Eg, how do you apply “for whom, to whom” in this sentence: 

Me explicó su porqué pero no le creí. She explained her reason but I didn't believe her.
Muchas gracias,Shirley. 

Does it mean that he wants to be on the ship on the day of his birthday? Or does he want to receive the gift on that day?

Me extraña que él quiera venir al cine con nosotras. (I'm surprised he wants to come to the cinema with us.)

I'm confused by what appears to be third person (extraña) rather than first person (extraño) in this sentence.  Please explain. Is it similar to use of the verb "gustar" --- where third person is used?

Pati

Hi- I thought pronouns had to come before conjugated verbs. For example, I would think "Explain it to him well" would be translated either "Se lo explica bien" or, if a command,  "Explicáselo bien".  However, in the quiz for this section, the correct answer is verb se lo bien. Can the pronouns be placed after but seperate from the verb?

Thanks

Hi Silvia. The phrase "expression of doubt" (I paraphrase) and the way it is used here seem ambiguous. How is it that according to the tests "creemos que" and "piensan que" don't express doubt; to me, since they don't express certainty, there is doubt. Likewise, how is it that "es impossible que" is followed by the subjunctive, when it expresses certainty that something is not possible. Please clarify. Thanks.