this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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Learning Spanish for Deplorable Tankies

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Could someone help me understand when to use lo, le, la, los, les and las? (self.learnspanish)
submitted 1 year ago by SomeoneElse to c/[email protected]
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This is probably really simple but I keep getting confused by which form I’m meant to use. Do I match it to the person I’m talking about or do I match it to the gender of the noun? And which part of the sentence do I use to determine whether I use the singular or plural?

For example “Le mando notas” means I send him notes. What about a singular note? If I’m sending her notes does it become la? If I was sending them notes would it be las or les? If notas is feminine why don’t I use la?

Is there a simple way to remember whatever the rule is? Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I cant answer the other questions, but based on google translate, “le” is ~~masculine because you are sending him notes.~~ the person you are sending notes to. The gender of the object doesn’t matter in that situation. If you’re sending them notes then it becomes “les.”

[–] SomeoneElse 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m practicing on duolingo now and I translated this wrong:

I give her a flower.

I wrote: la doy una flor.

Both “she” and “Flor” are feminine. I’m female. So why is it the masculine “le”?

If I was giving her flowers would it be “las doy flores” or “les doy flores”?

If I was giving her a newspaper (masculine) would it be le or la?

[–] frosty99c 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I commented above but wanted to reply directly to you.

I give a flower to Ana = doy una flor a Ana

Replace Ana with a pronoun (le - inderect objects are non gendered): I give her a flower = le doy una flor

Replace flor with a pronoun (la - direct objects are gendered): I give it to Ana = La doy a Ana

Replace both: I give her it = Le la doy

[–] SomeoneElse 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you, that’s really clear.