{"id":3401,"date":"2011-09-15T16:47:22","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T20:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2011-09-15T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2011-09-15T20:47:22","slug":"problems-using-la-le-lo-laismo-leismo-loismo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/problems-using-la-le-lo-laismo-leismo-loismo\/","title":{"rendered":"Problems using la, le, lo (la\u00edsmo, le\u00edsmo, lo\u00edsmo)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you are learning a language, you have to deal with correct grammar and vocabulary, but you also have to bear in mind its common usage. One main problem not only for Spanish learners but also for native speakers is the linguistic phenomenon known as \u201cle\u00edsmo<\/em>\u201d, closely related to \u201clo\u00edsmo<\/em>, and la\u00edsmo<\/em>\u201d: they are variations from standard Spanish involving the third person object pronouns.<\/p>\n

In order to avoid them, we have to bear in mind the form and function of these pronouns in Spanish; take a look at this chart:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Number and gender<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Direct object<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Indirect oject<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

singular masculine (“him” or “it”)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

lo<\/em><\/strong> (Lo veo.<\/em> I see him or I see it.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

le<\/em><\/strong> (Le escribo la carta.<\/em> I am writing him the letter.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

singular feminine (“her” or “it”)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

la<\/em><\/strong> (La veo.<\/em> I see her or I see it.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

le<\/em><\/strong> (Le escribo la carta.<\/em> I am writing her the letter.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

plural masculine (“them”)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

los<\/em><\/strong> (Los veo.<\/em> I see them.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

les<\/em><\/strong> (Les escribo la carta.<\/em> I am writing them the letter.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

plural feminine (“them”)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

las<\/em><\/strong> (Las veo.<\/em> I see them.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

les<\/em><\/strong> (Les escribo la carta.<\/em> I am writing them the letter.)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Le\u00edsmo<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLe<\/em>\u201d and \u201cles<\/em>\u201d function both as masculine and feminine indirect object in a sentence. In \u201cLe <\/em><\/strong>di un regalo.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (I gave her a present.), the pronoun can refer either to a man or a woman in Spanish and it is grammatically correct.<\/p>\n

But in some cases you can find sentences such as:<\/p>\n

\u00a0– Vi a Juan. Le<\/strong> vi.\u00a0 (I saw Juan. I saw him)<\/p>\n

\u00a0– A esa chica no le<\/strong> he visto nunca. (I have never seen this girl before.)<\/p>\n

This is what we call \u201cle\u00edsmo<\/em><\/strong>\u201d: when we use \u201cle\/les<\/em>\u201d as a direct object. Although it is grammatically incorrect in all cases, the RAE accepts \u201cle<\/em>\u201d as direct object if the pronoun is referred only to a male person, but never to female or things.\u00a0 This variation is much extended in the north and the centre of Spain, but not in Latin America.<\/p>\n

The courtesy \u201cle\u00edsmo<\/em><\/strong>\u201d is also accepted by the RAE: it is the same exchange between object pronouns, in this case associated to the courtesy second person pronoun \u201custed\/ustedes<\/em>\u201d,especially when speaking to the person le refers to. We will find it both in singular and plural when addressing with respect either male or female: \u201cNo <\/em>le<\/em><\/strong> hab\u00eda reconocido.\u201d (<\/em>I hadn\u2019t recognised you<\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

La\u00edsmo<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLa\u201d<\/em> and \u201cLas\u201d<\/em> are the feminine direct object pronouns: \u201cQuiero a Mar\u00eda. La<\/strong> quiero<\/em>.\u201d (I love Maria. I love her.) But in some areas they are uses as indirect object pronouns (yes, exactly the opposite linguistic phenomenon of \u201cle\u00edsmo<\/em><\/strong>\u201d).\u00a0 So you can hear a Spanish native speaker saying \u201cLas<\/em><\/strong> dije unas palabras<\/em>\u201d (I told them some words), which sounds terrible! It is used regionally in the centre of Spain and some parts of Central America.<\/p>\n

Lo\u00edsmo<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLo<\/em>\/los<\/em>\u201d are the masculine direct object pronouns, which can also be found being incorrectly used instead of \u201cle\/les<\/em>\u201d. A sentence such as \u201cLo<\/strong> di una bofetada\u201d (I gave him a slap) is a good example of it. Both la\u00edsmo<\/em> and lo\u00edsmo<\/em> are considered as vulgarisms.<\/p>\n

Don\u00b4t worry if you have problems deciding which pronoun to use, because this is a hard task even for native speakers. There are some problematic verbs you\u00b4ll have to ckeck to avoid\u00a0 these linguistic deviations: avisar, ayudar, curar, disparar, escribir, llamar, molestar, obedecer, pegar, saludar\u2026 <\/em>and some more..<\/p>\n

How about doing some practice now? Here you have some sentences\u00a0 to fill in with le, les, lo, los, la, las<\/em>:<\/p>\n