Pronouns are used to replace objects. The right one needs to be used depending on whether that object is directly or indirectly acted upon by the subject.
| type | example | pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| direct | Veo el libro → Lo veo | lo |
| indirect | Doy el libro a Juan → *Le doy el libro | le |
A fairly comprehensive list of pronouns:
| person (english) | direct object | indirect object |
|---|---|---|
| me | me | me |
| you (familiar) | te | te |
| him / her / it / you (singular, formal) | lo / la | le |
| us | nos | nos |
| you (plural, informal, Spain) | os | os |
| them / you (plural) | los / las | les |
note: In many dialects (especially Spain) le can be used as a direct object but only when referring to masculine singular people. This is accepted by la Real Academy Española.
For example: Le veo instead of Lo veo for a male person.
note: There are some weird exceptions to these rules.
For example se is used instead of le or les when they appear together with a direct object pronoun (lo / la / los / las).
SPanish does this to avoid awkward combinations like le lo doy or les la escribo.
Instead those would be written as se lo doy and se la escribo.
(Ever heard C'est la vie?)