When speaking, our conversations should be fluid and natural, and for getting to this point, we use different techniques, among them, the use of direct objects (me, te, la/lo, nos, las, los) and the indirect object object (me, te, le, nos, les).
These words are generally used to know who or what I’m talking about. For example, in the phrase «Los oigo: I hear them«, «los» refers to them. If I just use «oigo», no one will understand whom you’re hearing.
When we are talking, we also use these terms to replace people or objects that were mentioned earlier in the conversation, therefore, they don’t need to be repeated again. For example, in the sentence: «Le conté sobre nuestro problema: I told him about our problem», I know that «le» refers to a person who was mentioned before (him/her), it can be a man or a woman, and his or her name is no longer necessary.
A sentence can generally has a direct and indirect object depending on what you want to say. For example, if we have the sentence: «Compramos un carro para Juan: We bought a car for Juan», I must understand that the direct object of the sentence is «el carro» because it answers the question, what did we buy?, and «para Juan» is the indirect object , Juan’s the one receiving the gift.
If I keep talking about this situation and let’s say that they’re asked about when they bought it, instead of repeating the word car, you could use «lo» which will replace car, in this regard, the sentence would be: «Lo compramos ayer: We bought it yesterday».
However, since the gift was for John, you could also include him without repeating his name again, and you should use «le». When I want to use COD and COI, the indirect object must be placed before the indirect object.
The sentence should be technically like this: «Le lo compramos ayer» However, when we find «le» and «lo» together, this «le» changes, and «se» is used instead, therefore, the correct sentence is: «Se lo compramos ayer: We bought it for him yesterday» The word «se» replaces Juan, «lo» replaces the car, then we add the verb conjugated and the rest of the sentence.
Direct object/objeto complemento de objeto directo (COD)
We can identify the COD of a sentence when we answer the question ¿Qué? or ¿a quién? If I say «Vendo helado: I sell ice cream», «helado» is the direct object, or if I say «Veo a Esteban: I see Esteban», he’s the direct object.
The same situation happens when I say «Me encontré a Jesús en la calle: I ran into Jesus on the street» Jesus is the COD even if he’s a person. When I want to replace this object or person, I must place (me, te, lo/la, nos, las/los) before the conjugated verb.
How to know which COD I have to use?
It depends on what you are talking about, you must choose the right pronoun. Each subject has a specific pronoun. Below a chart with all the types.
Type of COD
ME
TE
LO (masculino/usted)
LA (femenino/usted)
NOS
LAS (femenino plural)
LOS (masculino plural)
Examples
Me miro al espejo. I look at myself in the mirror.
Te amo. I love you
Lo dibujé el lunes. I drew him/it on Monday.
La encontré en el parque. I found her/you at the park.
El perro nos tocó. The dog touched us.
Las visité en Madrid. I visited them/you girls in Madrid.
Los oí hablando de mi jefe. I heard them/you guys talking about my boss.
Indirect object/Complemento de objeto indirecto (COI)
The COI of a sentence can be recognized by answering the question ¿A quién: to whom? For example, if I talk about giving a gift and I mention the person, that person is the indirect object, likewise if I decided to teach someone something, that «someone» will also be the indirect object, as in the sentence: » Le enseñé matemáticas a Pablo el año pasado: I taught Pablo maths last year»
There is another detail to take into account regarding the COI, even if I mention Pablo in the sentence, adding «le» before the verb is the most common thing to do, in fact, it’s mandatory. «le» is redundant if I mention the person, but it’s something as natives we do.
The COI also goes before the conjugated verb. Similarly, if both direct object pronouns are in a sentence, the COI must come before the COD.
How to know which COI I have to use?
Depending on what you’re talking about, you must choose the right pronoun. Each subject has a specific pronoun. Below a chart with all the types.
Type of COI
ME
TE
LE (él/ella/usted)
NOS
LES (ellos/ellas, ustedes)
Example
Me escribió por WhatsApp. He texted me on WhatsApp.
Te doy mi carro viejo. I give you my old car.
Le conté sobre ti. I told her/him/you about you.
La profesora nos gritó. The teacher yelled at us.
Les pedí dinero. I asked them/you guys for money.
More examples in context
1. Necesito un cuaderno nuevo. Lo necesito para mi clase de ciencias.
In this first example we have a direct object «lo» that replaces the new notebook that the girl needs. Since the notebook is masculine, «la» isn’t a good choice. An equivalent translation would be: «I need a new notebook. I need it for my science class.»
2. Me gusta tu vestido. ¿Quién te lo dio?
In this example, we have the two complements, first the girl says «te» which refers to her friend, someone bought that dress for her, and then she says «lo» to replace the dress. The translation would be; «I like your dress, who gave it to you?»
3. Mauricio nos vio en el parque.
Here, someone mentions that a man named Mauricio saw them in the park. There is only COD and it is «nos» which replaces «nosotros». An appropriate translation would be: «Mauricio saw us at the park»
4. Les compré unos juguetes a los niños. Se los daré para navidad.
In this sentence we have the two objects, first we have «se» which in this case refers to the children, and «los» refers to the toys. Here we use «se los» because «le los» isn’t grammatically accurate. In English, the phrase is: «I bought the kids some toys. I’ll give them to them on Christmas.»
5. ¿Por qué no la llamas ya?
In this question, we have the COD «la» which replaces the name of a woman. One way to translate it is: «Why don’t you call her right away?»
6. Sandra nos lo dijo antes de ir al cine.
We have both objects here, first we see «nos» which replaces us, and then «lo» which can replace a man or any object with a masculine article.
Since the verb is «to say», the context tells us that «lo» refers to some type of information or issue. «Sandra told us about it before going to the cinema» is one possible translation.
7. ¿Dónde los encontraste? Los estuve buscando toda la tarde.
Here is just the COD «los» for them, it’s not known exactly what they refer to, this should’ve been mentioned earlier in the conversation. The translation of this phrase is: «Where did you find them, I was looking for them all the afternoon long»
8. Sé que lo necesitas, ¿por qué no se lo pediste a tu papá antes?
In this last example, we have three pronouns. The first one is «lo» which refers to something that someone needs, , it’s something that belongs to the masculine gender. Then «se» is used to replace dad and then again «lo» to talk about what this person needs to ask for.
We use «se lo» because «le lo» isn’t possible into the Spanish grammar. An appropriate translation would be «I know you need it, why didn’t you ask your dad before?»