Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

160 •  Chapter 2: Las personas y las perspectivas Los problemas nos dan la oportunidad de mejorar el proceso. Here are some verbs that are commonly used with indirect object pronouns. Some are new, and some are from previous Lengua sections: dar (doy) to give mostrar (o:ue) to show ofrecer to offer pagar to pay (for) servir (e:i) to serve conseguir (consigo, e:i) to get, to obtain demostrar (o:ue) to demonstrate decir (digo [e:i]) to say, to tell contar (o:ue) to count, to tell presentar to present escribir to write pedir (e:i) to ask for, to order explicar to explain preguntar to ask (a question) comprar to buy responder to answer It is possible to use these verbs without an indirect object pronoun—for example, “La profesora responde.” We only need to use the indirect object pronoun when we express to whom this happens: “La profesora les responde a los estudiantes .” This is a standard form for the whole sentence, and as we begin practicing with indirect object pronouns, it may be useful to follow this pattern. La profesora = subject (the person who does the verbal action) les = indirect object pronoun (a pronoun that matches the person to whom the action is done) responde = conjugated verb (the verb is conjugated to match the subject) a los estudiantes = indirect object (this clarifies who the pronoun is referring to) Here are more examples: Miguel les escribe a sus padres. Les cuenta sobre sus clases. Mis amigas me invitan a salir, pero les digo que estoy muy ocupada. Si me compras un café hoy, te pago mañana. ¿Qué le preguntas a la profesora?