Unexpected pronoun

David S.B2Kwiziq community member

Unexpected pronoun

In the sentence:

La bruja le maldice todos los años. (The witch curses him every year)

I expected it to read "lo maldice" to say "to curse him" where "him" would be the direct object. Why is it le?

This question relates to:Spanish lesson "Conjugate decir and its derivatives in the present tense in Spanish: predecir, bendecir, maldecir (El Presente)"

Asked 3 years ago

Like0Answer1

InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola David

This "le" referring to "him" as a direct object is a use of le as lo that is not that unusual in some parts of Spain. The use of le as "him" (not her) is accepted by the Spanish Academy; it's called "leísmo". You can read a bit about this here.

I've changed it though to "lo" to reflect the more general norm for direct object pronouns.

Gracias y saludos

Inma

Like03 years ago

David S. asked: