The other day I came across this sentence with Karen and couldn't wrap my head around it.
I understood that lo refers to the regalo and le refers to Juan, but I couldn't understand why
it was obvious that lo is wrong in this sentence when neither Juan or regalo is unknown?
Or in other words, why can't both sentences be correct? I posed the question to Jackie for
an event last night. This made it clearer to me.
Why is ‘lo’ incorrect in this sentence?
INCORRECTO: A Juan lo doy un regalo por su cumpleaños.
CORRECTO: A Juan le doy un regalo por su cumpleaños.
Lo is a direct object pronoun. (regalo)
Le is an indirect object pronoun. (Juan)
Direct objects receive the direct action of the verb. (regalo)
Indirect objects receive the benefit of or the effect of the action. (Juan)
In Spanish you almost always have to use the indirect object pronoun even when saying
‘a Juan’. For example:
INCORRECTO: A Juan gustan los tacos.
CORRECTO: A Juan le gustan los tacos.
That's the key, I just need to remember this. Likely now when I read and listen, I should pick up on this.
And for some comprehensible input: Los tacos de Juan!
You are right, this is confusing. I felt I understood it with the transfer course, then didn't really use it, and now have completely forgotten it!
ReplyDeleteI talked to Iris about it. That's kind of been my strategy when coming across something confusing. I basically ask every resource I have the same question and eventually I'm hoping it sticks!
ReplyDeleteIris said it's not that she wouldn't understand what I was trying to say, it's just that to her it sounds weird and isn't the way a native would speak. She said keep watching Spanish TV so I have more exposure and it will start sounding weird to us too.
ReplyDelete