Identifying the direct and indirect objects

[pia]

So i get the rules of Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns. I've also seen threads in the grammar section where it has been laid out very well by members here.

I also know the Que/A quien rule to figure it out. i can in certain cases. but i am completely lost in the following homework paragraph. I know what the answers are but i dont know how they got it.

Here is part of it.

Ayer fue el cumpleaños de Olga y ella ___pasó muy bien. Todos sus amigos --- dieron muchos regalos. --- compraron en diferentes tiendas especializadas del viejo San Juan. Por ejemplo, Paco --- compró una blusa de seda. A Olga le gustó mucho la blusa y ella --- dio un beso a Paco.
Mateo, el novio de Olga, también --- dio un regalo especial. A nosotros Mateo --- dijo que iba a ser algo increíble, y realmente fue increíble.

Thank you so much.

[aleCcowaN]

Provided you already know the answers, why don't you ask on a case by case basis? Each instance should make sense -or not- to you. The only difficult case is the first one because "la pasó" is also correct in addition to "lo pasó".

[Vikingo]

Hey. tell us what you think the answers are, and why. If you don't know, go ahead and tell us what your thoughts are. Alec is a great teacher, and I'm learning Spanish with you, so maybe I can help too, from what I know. And there are several good natives around, so feel free. Welcome

[pia]

OK so here goes.
blue = the answers.

Ayer fue el cumpleaños de Olga y ella ___pasó muy bien.
so the answer is lo. however the part that confuses me is - duh it just struck me - she had a good time, not Olga. so ella is the OI but since she experienced the 'joy' thus not necessary and therefore the implied DO is cumpleanos (havent figured out how to do the accents and ~) and so thus LO.

Todos sus amigos --- dieron muchos regalos.
so here m. regalos is OD and Olga is the OI. since regalos is already in the sentence then the answer should be le (for Olga). le

--- compraron en diferentes tiendas especializadas del viejo San Juan.
here OD is regalos which is implied so the answer should be los. Los

Por ejemplo, Paco --- compró una blusa de seda.
OI is missing so should be le le

A Olga le gustó mucho la blusa y ella --- dio un beso a Paco.
'a' Paco - therefore OI - le le

Mateo, el novio de Olga, también --- dio un regalo especial.
OI thus le le

A nosotros Mateo --- dijo que iba a ser algo increíble, y realmente fue increíble.
stumped by this one. so mateo said blah blah 'to us' right? he bought something incredible which is the DO. so is a nosotros the OI and thus should we use OI since oD is stated so it should be 'nos'. nos

i notice that my reasoning is matching the right answers. is this how one thinks to figure out the right answer?

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by pia

OK so here goes.
blue = the answers.

Ayer fue el cumpleaños de Olga y ella ___pasó muy bien.
so the answer is lo. however the part that confuses me is - duh it just struck me - she had a good time, not Olga. so ella is the OI but since she experienced the 'joy' thus not necessary and therefore the implied DO is cumpleanos (havent figured out how to do the accents and ~) and so thus LO.

The answer is correct in Spain, but not in other coutries, and your approach is wrong. "Ella" is the subject, not the IO. In some countries they say "pasarla bien/mal/etc.", but in Spain we say "pasarlo bien/mal/etc." (we refer to el rato, el tiempo, etc.). "Lo"/"la" does not refer to "cumpleaños", but to the time she enjoyed doing something.

Todos sus amigos --- dieron muchos regalos.
so here m. regalos is OD and Olga is the OI. since regalos is already in the sentence then the answer should be le (for Olga). le

--- compraron en diferentes tiendas especializadas del viejo San Juan.
here OD is regalos which is implied so the answer should be los. Los

Por ejemplo, Paco --- compró una blusa de seda.
OI is missing so should be le le

A Olga le gustó mucho la blusa y ella --- dio un beso a Paco.
'a' Paco - therefore OI - le le

Mateo, el novio de Olga, también --- dio un regalo especial.
OI thus le le

A nosotros Mateo --- dijo que iba a ser algo increíble, y realmente fue increíble.
stumped by this one. so mateo said blah blah 'to us' right? he bought something incredible which is the DO. so is a nosotros the OI and thus should we use OI since oD is stated so it should be 'nos'. nos

i notice that my reasoning is matching the right answers. is this how one thinks to figure out the right answer?

The other sentences are correct.

[aleCcowaN]

Well done, pia!

Irma have already explained the first one, indeed a very hard example that involves "real language". I only want to add that I suppose the person who develop the exercise was thinking in "cumpleaños" (birthday) but "lo/la" refers to "day" or "birthday party". "Lo/a" refers to the activity you are involved during some time span, and its circumstances.

[pia]

Aha!!! got it. and thank you

since i traced backwards with the answer it made the rest of the exercise 'easy'.

so here are a few more

1. Después de que Olga abrió todos sus regalos, 2. Mateo miró a Olga y 3. le dijo: 4. «Olga, te quiero mucho, y 5. tú lo sabes.

so is the approach that you break up the sentence into its parts (that i numbered) and look at each part?

so on 3 - __ dijo = subject Mateo, DO (not present in the sentence or would you say 4, 5 belongs to the sentence so what he says becomes the DO) and the IO is implied but stated in part 2. so then one needs an IO and it would be le? why not lo? because the statement is considered as DO?

A nosotros Mateo * dijo que iba a ser algo increíble, y realmente fue increíble. the answer is 'nos'

so since its decir does that mean his statement everything after que is the DO because it answers what he said and he said it to us so we need a IOP which would be nos? so usually anytime people preceeded by 'a' or 'para' usually means the IO?

sorry if i am being too anal retentive. language fascinates me.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by pia

1. Después de que Olga abrió todos sus regalos, 2. Mateo miró a Olga y 3. le dijo: 4. «Olga, te quiero mucho, y 5. tú lo sabes.

so is the approach that you break up the sentence into its parts (that i numbered) and look at each part?

so on 3 - __ dijo = subject Mateo, DO (not present in the sentence or would you say 4, 5 belongs to the sentence so what he says becomes the DO) and the IO is implied but stated in part 2. so then one needs an IO and it would be le? why not lo? because the statement is considered as DO?

A nosotros Mateo * dijo que iba a ser algo increíble, y realmente fue increíble. the answer is 'nos'

so since its decir does that mean his statement everything after que is the DO because it answers what he said and he said it to us so we need a IOP which would be nos? so usually anytime people preceeded by 'a' or 'para' usually means the IO?

I think what he says becomes the DO, as I can say "se lo dijo" ("se" means "le" and "lo" refers to what was said).

Remember an IO is not always necessary. About the IO being "le" and not "lo", remember that IOs are either the receiver of the action, the goal of the action or who benefits from the action, so "le" is the IO because Olga is the receiver of the speech. Also remember that DOs are that thing a transitive verb operates on; without a DO the meaning of the action is incomplete (Esperamos .... te esperamos; comemos ... comemos pizza); the "lo" is de DO because it is "the thing that is known, that of he loving her so much". Think about this example:

Mateo la miró a los ojos y le dijo "..." ( la DO as she is the watched "thing" -the verb "to watch" watches her-, le IO because she is the addressee of the speech -the verb "to say" says the speech intended for her to hear)

nos dijo blah blah blah

Maybe I am wrong about this, as this is a subject I've never been fond of.

Originally Posted by pia

sorry if i am being too anal retentive. language fascinates me.

It's OK. Your ask very good questions.