Double pronouns have been confusing me

[luis magistrado]

When i was a kid i used to hear old people sing the song "de colores". As i have said in my introduction, spanish was spoken in the Philippines up to about 50 years ago before english became the second language.

i.ve learned the tune of the song and some parts of the lyrics but i have no idea what it meant and where it came from. Recently i discovered that the song is common to all countries which used to be the colony of Spain. Now that i am learning spanish i find the full lyric of the song.

The last part of the song is " y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores, me gustan a mi".

The arrangement of the words shows the use of double object pronouns as in many of the writings i have been encountering since i started learning spanish.

Can somebody explain to me please the rules in the use of double object pronouns? What would be the difference in meaning between "me gustan", "gustan a mi" and me gustan a mi". I understand it to mean " I like" or "They are pleasing to me".

Thank you

[Julvenzor]

Sobre la duplicación de objetos indirectos, algo frecuente en español, hay escrito largo y tendido. A rasgos simples, mientras que en inglés no sucede así, en español suelen existir dos tipos de repeticiones:

-Especificativa: (Le) doy la carta a ella = I give the letter to her.

El "le" no es estríctamente necesario; pero se utiliza el 99% de las veces. La ausencia o sobreuso de éste constituye un buen indicador de hablante no nativo.

-Ponderativa: (Ellos) me gustan a mí = They are pleasing to me.

Opciones correctas: 1) Me gustan. 2) Me gustan a mí.
*Gustan a mí* es incorrecto.

En este caso ocurre lo opuesto, el elemento prescindible no es el pronombre indirecto sino el "a mí". A diferencia del anterior, aquí resulta natural tanto omitirlo como explicitarlo. Se trata de énfasis: They are pleasing to me, to me.

Un saludo cordial.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by luis magistrado

Can somebody explain to me please the rules in the use of double object pronouns? What would be the difference in meaning between "me gustan", (Common statement, universally understood) "gustan a mi (Spelling)" (Always with "me") and "me gustan a mi (Spelling)" (Redundant, "a mí" is only inserted to emphasize or to match the number of syllables needed for the verse). I understand it to mean " I like" or "They are pleasing to me".

In verbs like "gustar", "necesitar", "encantar", "importar" and the like, the redundant pronoun is often needed. I'm unable to state anything about rules. Sometimes, by using a redundant pronoun the speaker marks an emphasis (or uses it to fill a songline).

- A los niños les gustan los payasos. -> If we don't know about whom we're talking, then "a los niños" must be included. The IO pronoun is a needed complement for verbs like "gustar".
- A ellos les encantan los payasos pero yo no los soporto. -> Redundancy stresses the difference between those who love clowns and me, who can't stand them.

- Ya le dije a Juan que no me hable. -> Same as previous. IO pronoun goes with "decir"; the name of the person is inserted so we know whom we are talking about.
- Ya le dije a él que no me hable. -> The use of "él" suggests that we already know who he is, so here the redundancy emphasizes the fact that I demanded something from him.


Redundant DO pronouns are a matter of regional use:

- Acabo de llevarlos a los niños a la escuela. -> Mexicans don't use this, and it sounds pleonastic for us, but there are regions where this is the norm in daily speech.


Edit: Julvenzor beat me to reply, but I guess a second answer won't harm.

[luis magistrado]

Thank you

Both replies enlightened me. Ambos respuestas me aclararon a mi. ( I hope this a correct use of double pronoun)