Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Whenever two pronouns of the 3rd person come together, the indirect

object (leor les) is always replaced by se in initial position. In other words

combinations of pronouns beginning with l-, such as les+ loor le+ las,

are alwaysincorrect.

Depending on the context, it might be necessary for emphasis or clarity to

indicate the exact person to whom serefers by adding a prepositional object

pronoun preceded bya:

Ya se lo he mandado. I’ve already sent it to him.

¿Por qué no se lo propones a ella? Why don’t you ask her?

Queremos ofrecérselo a usted. We want to offer it to you.

Use of le(s) in place of lo(s) and la(s)

Le instead of lo

The majority of Spanish speakers today use loas the direct object pronoun

with the meaning of ‘him’. This usage is the preferred choice of the Spanish

Academy. However, especially in Madrid and parts of central and northern

Spain, the preferred choice of individuals and the media is le, a usage which

the Academy is obliged to accept:

Lo veremos mañana/Le[SP]veremos mañana.

We shall see him tomorrow.

The use of lein place of lois referred to as leísmo. This term is also applied

to the use of lesfor los, which is much less common (see 8.6.2.4).

Other uses of le and les

Students of Spanish will also encounter the following uses both in Spain

and Latin America.

Le/Lesas the polite 2nd person direct object pronoun for usted/ustedes

(common in Spain and parts of Latin America):

8.6.2.1

8.6.2

8.6.1

8.6

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8

Personal
pronouns

82