64 Object pronouns: me te lo la

There are two types of pronouns both in English and Spanish: the subject pronouns and the object pronouns. Before discussing that, let’s think about this difference in English. Subject pronouns in English usually go at the beginning at the sentence, before the verb.

Most of the subject pronouns in English have distinctive words such as: I, she, he, we, and they. The corresponding object pronouns are these: me, her, him, us, and them. For example, you can say: “She (subject) loves him (object)” or “I (subject) am going to pick them (object) up in school”. They’re called objects because they receive the consequence of the verb as if they were objects. For example: “I hit the ball”=”I hit it” or “I hit that guy”=”I hit him”.

The main problem for English native speakers starts by the pronouns that have the same word for both subject and object pronouns. Those pronouns are “you” and “it”. For example: “I love you” versus “You love me”, the word “you” in the first sentence works as an object, and in the second works as a subject. Or: “It’s impossible” versus “I can make it”. The first “it” works as a subject and the second “it” works as an object.

Spanish has different words for “you” or “it” works as subject or “you” works as object. There’s no word for “it” in Spanish when it’s a subject. When you want to say “it” as a subject, you just don’t say anything. The conjugation of the verb conveys the meaning of “it”. So please never say “Lo es muy grande” or “Lo es imposible”.

In Spanish, there’s different types of perceive the object as direct, indirect, and reflexive. That takes time to learn, but it’s worth commenting on that because you’ll see those often in the songs.

There are pronouns in Spanish that don’t change in object positions: those are me (me), te (you) and nos (us). The only pronouns that change a lot are those in the third person, that’s to say, when you’re talking about someone else or something else.

A: ¿Dónde pones los libros?​

B: Yo los pongo en la mochila.​

A: ¿Dónde pones la ropa?​

B: Yo la pongo en el armario.​

A: ¿Dónde pones el televisor?​

B: Yo lo pongo en la mesa.

Sample conversations:

Calling the African deities – Object pronouns

With a partner, perform this conversation by adding object pronouns LO or LA:

A: ¿Cuándo llamas a Babalú?

B: Yo ____ llamo cuando estoy enfermo. ¿Cuándo llamas a Yemanyá?

A: Yo ____ llamo cuando necesito conseguir novio. ¿Cuándo llamas a Changó?

B: Yo ____ llamo cuando voy a tocar los tambores. ¿Cuándo llamas a Obbatalá?

A: Yo ____ llamo cuando tengo que hacer una tarea. ¿Cuándo llamas a Oggun?

B: Yo ____ llamo cuando pierdo (=I loss) las llaves.

African Gods and Goddesses – Object pronouns

First add the object pronoun (LO LA LOS LAS), then the God (Babalú Ayé, Yemanyá, Changó, Obbatalá)

A: ¿Para qué usas los fluídos?

B: ____ uso para llamar a _________.

A: ¿Para qué usas a San Lázaro?

B: ____ uso para llamar a ___________.

A: ¿Para qué usas los tambores?

B: _____ uso para llamar a ___________.

A: ¿Para qué usas una vela?

B: _____ uso para llamar a ___________.