10 Lo La Him Her It: Object pronouns
Pronouns allow the speaker refer back to an item already mentioned without saying the name again. Object pronouns usually refer to things that don’t do anything, but get affected by the verb. For example, “the gator eats bread”: the bread is the object.
The main object pronouns are those LO for masculine entities, and LA for feminine entities. You must add an S to express the plural.
- lo=him
- la=her
- los (masculine), las (feminine)=them
When the entity is a person, you use ME (pronounced /meh/) to refer to the person talking and TE to refer to the person talking to.
- me=(to) me
- te=(to) you
For this reason, the song “Araña picúa” says “La araña te va a morder”=The spider is going to bit (to) you.
Object pronouns go before the conjugated verb.
- La araña me (to me) va a morder
- La araña te (to you) va a moder
- La araña lo (to him) va a morder
- La araña la (to her) va a morder
- La araña los (to them, masculine) va a morder.
- La araña las (to them, feminine) va a morder.
LO and LA may also mean usted, or formal you. LOS and LAS may mean “ustedes”, or plural you.
Sample conversation
Naming people you love, hate and admire
A: ¿A quién amas? (=Who do you love)
B: Yo amo a ___________ (add person).
A: ¿Por qué ____ (add object pronoun) amas?
B: Porque él OR ella ____________ (add something this person does that makes you love them).
A: ¿A quién odias? (=Who do you hate)
B: Yo odio a ___________ (add person).
A: ¿Por qué ____ (add object pronoun) odias?
B: Porque él OR ella ____________ (add something this person does that makes you love them).
A: ¿A quién amas? (=Who do you love)
B: Yo amo a ___________ (add person).
A: ¿Por qué ____ (add object pronoun) amas?
B: Porque él OR ella ____________ (add something this person does that makes you hate her OR him).
A: ¿A quién admiras? (=Who do you admire, look up to)
B: Yo admiro a ___________ (add person).
A: ¿Por qué ____ (add object pronoun) admiras?
B: Porque él OR ella ____________ (add something this person does that makes you admire her OR him)
A: ¿Tú ____ admiras a mí?
B: Sí, yo ____ admiro. / No, yo no ____ admiro.
A: ¿Por qué ____ admiras?
B: Porque tú _________________ (add something
NOTE: You need to add the preposition “a” when verbs of love attach to a person. This is called “a personal” or “personal a”.
Borrowing a school item
A: ¿Tienes __________? (ask any item)
B: Sí, tengo / No, no tengo.
A: ¿Me ____ prestas?
B: Sí, con mucho gusto te ____ presto.
Add “lo” for masculine item and “la” for feminine item.
