Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

Module B: Sharing cultures  • 213 Alternative forms Vos te Vosotros os People can be direct objects (I see them , they hug you , we found her ), but it is more common for direct objects to be things. This means we will practice much more with using the direct object pronouns lo , la , los , and las . As you might have guessed, the gender and number of the direct object pronoun will match the gender and number of the direct object it is replacing. For example, Estudio español. Lo estudio en PSU. Escucho música. La escucho en el autobús. Necesito ayuda con estas palabras. No las entiendo. —¿Por qué haces los ejercicios? —Los hago porque son útiles. Why do we need direct object pronouns? Look at the three sets of sentences below. Both sentences in each pair are grammatically correct, but the first is redundant. It repeats an object that was already mentioned. In the second of each pair, the repeated object has been replaced by a direct object pronoun. This is a much more natural structure. Me gusta el café, y tomo café todos los días. Me gusta el café, y lo tomo todos los días. —¿Cuándo haces la tarea para la clase de español? —Hago la tarea por la tarde. —¿Cuándo haces la tarea para la clase de español? —La hago por la tarde. Estoy tomando tres clases de árabe porque necesito las clases para mi diploma. Estoy tomando tres clases de árabe porque las necesito para mi diploma. It is important to understand the concept of the direct object so that you can identify which part of the sentence you will be replacing with a direct object pronoun. Consider these sentences: Yo escribo las instrucciones en el papel, y mi compañero __________ lee. I write the instructions on the paper, and my partner reads __________. What is being read? The thing that is being read is the direct object. Is it the paper or the instructions? Since it’s the instructions (which is feminine and plural), the direct object pronoun will be las : “Mi compañero las lee.” The placement options for direct object pronouns are the same as we saw with indirect object pro- nouns. (To review indirect object pronouns, look back over Lengua 2.7.) These are the two most common placement options: 1. Placed before a conjugated verb: Lo hago. 2. Attached to the end of an infinitive: Puedo hacerlo.