Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

214 •  Chapter 3: La cultura y los viajes In English, direct object pronouns come after the verb, such as in “We heard it .” In Spanish, they are very often placed before the verb. This can cause confusion for English speakers learning Spanish. Look at the example sentences below, focusing on the words that are underlined. Despite the word order, focus first on the verb. The verb and its conjugation tell us what action is being done, when it is happening, and who is doing it. Once you have gathered that information, then look at the direct object pronoun and see what is being verbed. 1. Cuando no hay clases, la profesora escribe las instrucciones para la tarea y las envía por email. 2. ¡Fabian y Celia hacen la mejor pizza del mundo! Pero solo la venden los viernes. 3. Mi hermano escribe libros de ficción y los publica en internet. Dice que mucha gente los lee. Yo no quiero leerlos porque no me gustan los libros de ficción. Remember that the verb is conjugated based on who does the action, and the direct object pronoun reflects who or what gets verbed. Finally, be aware that a common error after learning direct object pronouns is to start trying to use lo in Spanish every time you would use the word it in English. Direct object pronouns are only for when something gets verbed. There are plenty of times in which it is the subject rather than the object, such as in the sentences below. In these cases, there is no Spanish equivalent for the English it ; we simply conjugate the verb appropriately. It is interesting. Es interesante. I like it. Me gusta. I know that it is important. Sé que es importante. Do you know where it is? ¿Sabes dónde está? 30. Completar Select the best way to complete each sentence below. 1. Normalmente hago la tarea en casa, pero a veces ____________________ en la biblioteca. a. termino la b. me termino c. la termino 2. Ximena escribe poesía increíble, pero no ____________________. a. quiere publicarla b. publica la c. quiere la publicar 3. Mi primo tiene un sitio personal que genera mucho dinero. Produce videos cómicos y ____________________cada semana. a. lo publico b. los publica c. los publicos 4. Cuando mi primo sale a restaurantes, a veces las personas ____________________por sus videos en internet. ¡Es un poco famoso! a. los reconoce b. lo reconocen c. las reconoce