Se, le, and lo for dummies

[Tyrn]

Hi,

I'm doing it pretty fine. That is, every month better than the last one. Just the same, I'm not really sure. I'm sort of getting used to (the English language makes me humble, but not quite) it, but I'm uncomfortable.

Something for the dummies? I'd really like to

And it wouldn't cost a lot, I suppose an hope...

[wrholt]

There are many books about Spanish grammar, and the better ones should discuss object pronouns in general and 3rd person pronouns in some detail. Some of the books are for beginning students, some are for intermediate students, and some are for advanced students.

There are some regional differences regarding how native speakers use the 3rd person object pronouns se, le/les, and lo/la/los/las. The Real Academia Española (the RAE) considers a few of those differences to be acceptable, and they consider some of the other differences to be non-standard.

Any reasonably good book about Spanish grammar should include information about object pronouns and about the regional differences that the RAE considers to be acceptable.

The books that I know best are especially good for advanced students and are written in English or in Spanish. If you want a book that is good for beginner or intermediate students, or a book written in Russian, perhaps someone else can recommend one.

On Ebay I found a listing for a Russian-language book about the Spanish language.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with wrholt.



Also, direct object and indirect object pronouns are quite hard to understand, both for language learners and for native speakers, but it's just a matter of practice mostly.
Try browsing the forums where we have explanations and we can help you with what you don't understand.

[Tyrn]

Ah. So the root of my problem is that I can't tell a direct object from an indirect one. Worse still, it's intuitive half of the time, and half of the time not at all . I'll try and read up on the subject, then try some questions.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

In Spain many people say la when they should say le or viceversa, so don't worry, one day the language academy will admit it as right !

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

Ah. So the root of my problem is that I can't tell a direct object from an indirect one. Worse still, it's intuitive half of the time, and half of the time not at all . I'll try and read up on the subject, then try some questions.

Well, another problem is that different languages use different concepts for OD AN IO, that's my experience when I learn French and Italian, in Spanish is different.

[Tomisimo]

If you look up leísmo, loísmo, and laísmo, you'll see not all native Spanish speakers are even in total agreement, especially when comparing different areas of the world where Spanish is spoken.