Lo vs le

[fglorca]

No lo pagues. (Don’t pay him.) him = Direct object pronoun

Is ‘him’ direct or indirect here? Could we assume the direct object is implied (e.g. money), which would make 'him' indirect (le: No le pagues.)

Many thanks.

[Tomisimo]

To me:



"No lo pagues." = Don't pay for it. (Lo referring to the item that you were going to buy)
"No le pagues." = Don't pay him/her. (Le referring to the person who would be receiving the money)


But there could be nuances here that I'm glossing over.

Side question: Would you use lo or le with saludar? "Voy a saludarlo" or "Voy a saludarle"? :D

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with Tomisimo. You pay for the thing you bought from someone, so the direct object is the thing and the person is the indirect object.

@David: "Saludarlo" in Mexico. In Spain though, they use "le", which is called "leísmo de cortesía".