DOP’s (Direct Object Pronouns)

Direct Object Pronouns Direct objects are nouns which receive the action of a verb in a sentence. Direct object pronouns replace that noun (and also noun phrases and nominalized clauses). Just like personal (subject) pronouns replace the subject noun in a sentence, direct object pronouns replace the direct object noun in a sentence which can be a person or a thing.

Below you can find the chart which separates the Direct object pronouns into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person as well as singular or plural. * Notice that the 1st and 2nd person pronouns are the same as the indirect object pronouns and that the 3rd person pronouns. GENERALLY, we will use DOP’s with THINGS (hence, the red bolded IT and THEM) SingularPlural Me (me)Nos (us) Te (you INFORMAL)Os (y’all INFORMAL) ***Lo, la (IT, you FORMAL, him, her) ***Los, Las (THEM, all of you FORMAL)

The direct object of a sentence can be an object: Sandra tiró la pelota. - Sandra threw the ball. “La pelota” receives the action of “tiró.” “La pelota” is the direct object of the sentence. It is singular and feminine, and since it represents an inanimate object, it is in the 3rd person, therefore, you can replace it with the direct object pronoun “la.” Sandra la tiró. - Sandra threw it.

Los niños leen muchos libros. - The boys read lots of books. “Muchos libros” receives the action of “leen.” It is plural, masculine, and 3rd person, so it can be replaced with the direct object pronoun “los.” Los niños los leen.

The direct object of a sentence can also be a person: They called us - Nos llamaron. I love you. - Te quiero.

Learn to translate groups of words, rather than individual words. The first step is to learn to view two Spanish words as a single phrase. Try to think of each line as a single phrase, not two separate words: la como lo como la leo lo leo la veo lo veo la tengo lo tengo la compro lo compro

la comoI eat it (feminine DO - la sopa, la comida, etc.) lo comoI eat it (masculine DO - el pollo, el arroz, etc.) la leoI read it lo leoI read it la veoI see it lo veoI see it la tengoI have it lo tengoI have it la comproI buy it lo comproI buy it Read each line again. Before you do, glance at the translation beneath it. Then, read each line thinking of it as a phrase that has the same meaning as the English phrase below it.

In the previous examples, it is clear that the subject of the sentence is "I" because the verbs are all conjugated in the "yo" form. With other verb forms, it is often desirable to add a word to clarify the subject. Juan la come. (la comida)Juan eats it. María lo tiene. (el libro)María has it. El chico la compra. (la pluma)The boy buys it. La chica lo ve. (el edificio)The girl sees it. Ustedes lo leen. (el periódico)You-all read it.

Now, some examples of plural direct objects. Juan come dos sándwiches. Los come. or Juan los come. María tiene tres libros. Los tiene. or María los tiene. El chico compra dos revistas. Las compra. or El chico las compra. La chica ve dos coches. Los ve. or La chica los ve. Ella compra dos televisores. Los compra. or Ella los compra. Tenemos dos mesas. Las tenemos. or Nosotros las tenemos

Now, some examples where the direct object is a person. I know you. Te conozco. She loves him. Ella lo ama. She loves me. Ella me ama. Juan sees her. Juan la ve. They call us. Ellos nos llaman. We call them. Los llamamos.

PRACTICE Please write 7 sentences showing that you can use pronouns using the following as your model: 1) Sandra tiró la pelota. - Sandra threw the ball Sandra la tiró. - Sandra threw it.