Pronombres de objeto directo (Direct Object Pronouns)

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The direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb directly. It answers the questions “what?” or “whom?” after the verb. For example, in the sentence Visité una galería la semana pasada (I visited a gallery last week), una galería is the direct object. Just like there are subject pronouns to refer to a subject, you can also use direct object pronouns to replace direct objects and avoid repetition.

Here is a complete list of direct object pronouns and their corresponding subject pronouns:

*Since elle is a gender-neutral subject pronoun, its direct object pronoun form is le instead of lo or la, matching the indirect object pronoun le you will learn next.

Continuing with direct object pronouns, imagine you bought a painting and you are telling your friend. When she asks for more details, instead of repeating the word cuadro again and again, you can simply replace it with a direct object pronoun.

Julia: “¡Hoy compré un cuadro!” 🖼️

Camila: “¡Qué bueno! ¿Dónde?” 📍

Julia could answer like this: “Compré un cuadro en Marshalls.” 🛍️

While this answer is grammatically correct, it sounds repetitive because un cuadro had already been mentioned in the first sentence. Instead of repeating the word, Julia can replace un cuadro with the direct object pronoun lo:

“(Yo) lo compré en Marshalls.” (I bought it in Marshalls)

Let’s say Julia and Camila continue talking about el cuadro, and Julia wants to mention that the painting has flowers. Could she say  “lo tiene flores” to avoid repeating “cuadro” again since we already know what she is talking about? No, you can’t!

That’s because “lo” is a direct object pronoun that replaces the thing directly receiving the action of the verb. In the sentence “Tiene flores” (“It has flowers”), “flores” is the direct object, not “cuadro.”

Since “flores” is the object of “tener” here, you don’t replace “cuadro” with “lo” before “tiene flores.” Instead, you just say:

“Tiene flores.” 💐

Note: The direct object pronoun must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun it replaces. In the example above, el cuadro is masculine singular, and therefore, it is replaced with the masculine singular pronoun lo.

Now let’s explore the placement of direct object pronouns within a sentence. The pronoun is placed in front of the conjugated verb, as in the examples below:

• Veo la escultura. → La veo. 🗿

• I see the sculpture. → I see it.

• Natalia llama a Pablo. → Natalia lo llama. 📞👨

• Natalia calls Pablo. → Natalia calls him.

• El pintor compra pinceles. → El pintor los compra. 👨‍🎨🖌️

• The painter buys paintbrushes. → The painter buys them.

When we have two verbs, one conjugated and the other one being an infinitive or gerund, the pronoun can be placed either before the first verb, or attached to the second one. Here are some examples:

• Voy a comprar el lienzo. → Lo voy a comprar (or : Voy a comprarlo). 🛒🖼️

• I am going to buy a canvas. → I am going to buy it.

• Estoy escuchando una canción. → La estoy escuchando (or : Estoy escuchándola). 🎶🎧

• I am listening to a song. → I am listening to it.

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