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Learn about the Spanish pronouns le and les
Le and les are pronouns: they replace a noun (person, animal or thing) used as the indirect object in a sentence. This type of pronoun is called an indirect object pronoun.
Have a look at these examples:
¿Ella envía un regalo a Miguel? Sí, ella le envía un regalo.Is she sending a present to Miguel? Yes, she is sending him a present.
¿Quién prepara la fiesta a Sofía? Nosotros le preparamos la fiesta.Who is preparing the party for Sofía? We are preparing the party for her.
¿Luna escribe a sus amigas? Sí, les escribe.Does Luna write to her friends? Yes, she writes to them.
You also use le or les to replace the formal forms usted and ustedes:
Señora Valls, le doy su carta.Mrs. Valls, I am giving you your letter.
Señor y Señora Aldama, hoy les pago la renta.Mr. and Mrs. Aldama, today I'm paying you the rent.
Here are some other examples where le and les refer to things:
Añadí sal a la comida. Le añadí sal.I added salt to the food. I added salt to it. Puse alcohol a las bebidas. Les puse alcohol.I put some alcohol in the drinks. I put some alcohol in them.
Note that the indirect object pronoun agrees in number with the noun it is replacing:
|
Masculine / Feminine |
Singular |
le to it / him / her / you |
Plural |
les to them / you |
The indirect object pronoun is placed in front of the conjugated verb.
Something to bear in mind:
In Spanish, it's common to use both the indirect object pronoun and the noun it's replacing in the same sentence, for emphasis:
Ella le envió un regalo a Miguel.She sent a present to Miguel.
Nosotros les preparamos la cena a nuestros invitados.We are cooking dinner for our guests.
Señor López, le entrego el paquete.Mr. Lopez, I am delivering the package to you.
Hoy les pago la renta a ustedes.Today I'm paying you the rent.
The repetition of the indirect object and indirect object pronoun is explained in more detail in this advanced lesson: Repetition of indirect object pronouns with verbs in Spanish (general)
Also see Using lo, la, los, las = him, her, it, them (direct object pronouns).
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