Spanish Direct Object Pronouns: Forms, Usage, and Practice

In this post we’ll look at Spanish direct object pronouns. First, we’ll define some concepts that you’ll need to understand in order to use direct object pronouns. Then we’ll look at the forms of the pronouns themselves. Next, we’ll see how to use them in sentences. And finally we’ll have some practice exercises so that you can test yourself.

Let’s Define Some Terms

Subject Nouns and Pronouns

When you say a sentence, there are certain roles that typically appear. For example, the person or thing that the sentence is about, the one performing the action or experiencing the state, is the subject. Subjects are usually nouns (Sarah, the man, the children) or pronouns (she, he, they). The word pronoun simply means a word that stands in for (pro-) a noun: I, you, he, she, it, we, they. Or in Spanish yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos, ellas, ustedes. Remember though that Spanish subject pronouns are typically dropped.

Verbs

After the subject, we have the word that expresses the action or state that the subject is doing or experiencing. This is the verb. Some examples of English verbs are do, go, sing, sleep, be, or hacer (hago, haces, hace…), ir (voy, vas, va…), cantar (canto, cantas, canta…), dormir (duermo, duermes, duerme…) ser (soy, eres, es…). As you probably know, Spanish verbs change a lot more than English verbs do to match their subjects.

Direct Objects

If there is someone or something that’s directly affected by the verb, this is the direct object. Take a look at these examples:

• Veo a mis amigos.
  I see my friends.
• Claudia está leyendo un libro muy bueno.
  Claudia is reading a really good book.

In the first example, I/yo (which is dropped) is the subject, see/veo is the verb, and my friends/mis amigos are the people directly affected. They are who or what I see, so they are the direct object. (In Spanish note that you have to add a, which is called the a personal. You only use this when the direct object is a specific noun referring to a person or a beloved pet.) In the second example, Claudia is the subject, is reading/está leyendo is the verb, and a really good book/un libro muy bueno is the direct object. (Since libro is an object and not a specific person, you don’t use the a personal.)

Spanish Subject and Direct Object Pronouns

Forms of Spanish Direct Object Pronouns

In both Spanish and English, you can use either a noun or a pronoun as either the subject or direct object. Take a look at these examples.

• Pablo ama a su madre.
  Pablo loves his mother.
  Pablo is a subject noun, and madre/mother is a direct object noun.
• Pablo la ama.
  Pablo loves her.
  Pablo is a subject noun, and la/her is a direct object pronoun.
• (Él) la ama.
  He loves her.
  Él/He is a subject pronoun, and la/her is a direct object pronoun.
  (Note that él would normally be dropped in Spanish unless you’re stressing HE.)

As you can see, both English and Spanish have specific forms for the pronouns depending on how they’re used in the sentence. Él/he (or ella/she) are subject pronouns, and la/her (or lo/him) are direct object pronouns. So in both languages, you have to choose the correct pronoun for the role in the sentence.

Here are all of the subject and direct object pronouns in Spanish with their English equivalents.

Notes

Just keep a few things in mind when using pronouns in Spanish:

• You normally drop subject pronouns in Spanish unless you’re stressing a comparison, for example HE (but not she) does something.
• Direct object pronouns are not dropped in Spanish. If there is one, you need to include it.
• There are lots of forms for you in Spanish! If you know someone well, or if you’re speaking to someone younger, use tú. If you want to show respect, use usted. Vosotros and vosotras are for when you’re speaking to more than one person, a bit like you all or you guys in English. But it’s used in Spain and not in Latin America, where it’s replaced by ustedes. In Spain, ustedes is on the plural polite form, but it’s used to speak to any group of people in Latin America.
• Nosotros, vosotros, and ellos have feminine forms for groups of women: nosotras, vosotras, and ellas.  

Position of Spanish Direct Object Pronouns

In Spanish, direct object nouns come in the same position as in English: right after the verb. But direct object pronouns in Spanish come before the verb, which is unlike English.

• Veo a Juan. → Lo veo.
  I see Juan → I see him.
• Compro la pizza. → La compro.
  I buy the pizza → I buy it.
• Gloria lee los mensajes. → Gloria los lee.
  Gloria reads the messages. → Gloria reads them.
• Los niños quieren a los perros. à Los niños los quieren.
  The children love the dogs. → The children love them.
• El autor escribe libros. → El autor los escribe.
  The author writes books. → The author writes them.
• Los estudiantes abren sus libros de texto. → Los estudiantes los abren.
  The students open their textbooks. → The students open them.
• El niño escucha a su madre. → El niño la escucha.
  The boy listens to his mother. → The boy listens to her.
• Descargo los archivos. → Los descargo.
  I download the files. → I download them.

Progressive Tenses and Infinitives

If you use a progressive tense with estar and the present participle (ending in –ando or –iendo), there are two possible placements for the direct object pronoun. It can come before the form of estar, or it can be attached to the end of the present participle. Just remember to add an accent to preserve the stress on the correct syllable.

• Me estás ayudando. OR: Estás ayudándome.
  You are helping me.
• Me están llamando. OR: Están llamándome.
  They are calling me.
• Te estoy mirando. OR: Estoy mirándote.
  I am watching you.
• Te está abrazando. OR: Está abrazándote.
  She is hugging you.
• Nos está enseñando. OR: Está enseñándonos.
  She is teaching us.
• Nos están esperando. OR: Están esperándonos.They are waiting for us.

The same choice of word order exists if there is an infinitive.

• La quiero ver. OR: Quiero verla.
  I want to see her
• Lo voy a leer esta noche. OR: Voy a leerlo esta noche.
  I’m going to read it tonight.
• Los tenemos que comprar. OR: Tenemos que comprarlos.
  We have to buy them.

Practice

Now practice Spanish direct object pronouns with several exercises. Each of the following sentences includes a direct object noun, for example: I see my friend. Change each direct object noun into a direct object pronoun, for example: I see him/her. Then translate your answer. Answers are given below.

1. Yo compré el libro.
2. Ella está viendo la película.
3. Nosotros vamos a invitar a María.
4. ¿Quién preparó la cena?
5. Tú tienes las llaves.
6. Estoy buscando mi teléfono.
7. Ellos encontraron el perro.
8. ¿Has visto a Ana?
9. Vamos a vender nuestra casa.
10. Puse la mesa.
11. Mis amigos compraron los boletos.
12. ¿Cuándo escribiste la carta?
13. Estoy limpiando el baño.
14. ¿Quieres llevar a los niños al parque?
15. Voy a devolver los libros a la biblioteca.
16. Vimos a Juan en el cine.
17. María tomó la decisión.
18. ¿Tienes el dinero?
19. Los estudiantes hicieron la tarea.
20. ¿Me diste los documentos?

Answers

1. Yo lo compré. (I bought it.)
2. Ella la está viendo. / Ella está viéndola. (She is watching it.)
3. Nosotros la vamos a invitar. / Nosotros vamos a invitarla. (We are going to invite her.)
4. ¿Quién la preparó? (Who prepared it?)
5. Tú las tienes. (You have them.)
6. Estoy buscándolo. / Lo estoy buscando. (I am looking for it.)
7. Ellos lo encontraron. (They found it.)
8. ¿La has visto? (Have you seen her?)
9. Vamos a venderla. / La vamos a vender. (We are going to sell it.)
10. La puse. (I set it.)
11. Mis amigos los compraron. (My friends bought them.)
12. ¿Cuándo la escribiste? (When did you write it?)
13. Lo estoy limpiando. / Estoy limpiándolo. (I am cleaning it.)
14. ¿Los quieres llevar al parque? / ¿Quieres llevarlos al parque? (Do you want to take them to the park?)
15. Los voy a devolver. / Voy a devolverlos. (I am going to return them.)
16. Lo vimos en el cine. (We saw him at the cinema.)
17. María la tomó. (María made it.)
18. Sí, lo tengo. (Yes, I have it.)
19. Los estudiantes la hicieron. (The students did it.)
20. ¿Me los diste? (Did you give them to me?)

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