154. The prepositional forms of
the personal pronouns are also used in Spanish with the preposition
a, together with the ordinary object and indirect
object pronouns, (a) optionally with usted, (b)
for emphasis, or (c) for clearness:
| a. |
Le ve,
or
Le ve a usted. |
} |
He sees you. |
| |
| (Here le
ve may also come under (c) if not sufficiently clear.) |
| b. |
Me
ve. |
He sees
me.
(Sufficiently clear.) |
| Me
ve a mí. |
He sees
me. (Emphatic.) |
| Nos
hablaron. |
They
spoke to us. (Sufficiently clear.) |
| Nos
hablaron a nosotros. |
They
spoke to us. (Emphatic.) |
c. With the third person pronouns the prepositional forms
may be used also for reasons (a) and (b), but
more frequently they are used for clearness, since the third person
pronouns have various meanings:
1. With direct object:
| |
Indefinite |
Clear |
| |
| Le or lo
ví. |
{ |
I saw him.
I saw you.
I saw it. |
Le or lo
ví a él.
Le or lo ví a usted.
Lo ví (a él). |
| |
| Los ví. |
{ |
I saw them.
I saw you. |
Los ví a ellos.
Los ví a ustedes. |
| |
| Las ví. |
{ |
I saw them.
I saw you. |
Las ví a ellas.
Las ví a ustedes. |
2. With indirect object:
| |
Indefinite |
Clear |
| |
| Le hablé. |
{ |
I spoke to him.
I spoke to her.
I spoke to you. |
Le hablé a él.
Le hablé a ella.
Le hablé a usted. |
| |
| Les habló. |
{ |
He spoke to them (masc.).
He spoke to them (fem.).
He spoke to you (masc.).
He spoke to you (fem.). |
Les habló a ellos.
Les habló a ellas.
Les habló a ustedes.
Les habló a ustedes. |
When the indirect object pronoun form se (= le,
les) is used, the danger of confusion is greater and the
redundant construction may become necessary:
| |
Very indefinite |
Clear |
| |
| Se lo dí. |
{ |
I gave it to him.
I gave it to her.
I gave it to them (masc.).
I gave it to them (fem.).
I gave it to you (masc.).
I gave it to you (fem.).
|
Se lo dí a él.
Se lo dí a ella.
Se lo dí a ellos.
Se lo dí a ellas.
Se lo dí a ustedes.
Se lo dí a ustedes. |
155. As the student will observe from the above
examples, the prepositional forms have, in the construction in question,
a complementary function. They do not take the place of the ordinary
forms, me, te, le, etc., which must never
be omitted. Veo a él, hablo a ella are,
therefore, inadmissible. One must say either lo veo, le
hablo or lo veo a él, le hablo a ella.
156. The prepositional forms are used independently
in the following cases:
| a. When the verb is omitted. |
| |
No nos habla
a nosotros
sino a él. |
He does not speak to
us but to him. |
| ¿A quién vió
usted? A ella. |
Whom did you see? Her. |
| |
| b. When the direct object is of the
first or second person (see 146 a). |
| |
| Me presentaron a ella. |
They introduced me to her. |
| Te entregaron a él. |
They surrendered you
to him. |
| ¿Te presentó
a él? |
Did he introduce you
to him? |
| Nos presentó a ellos. |
He introduced us to them. |
157. The Redundant Construction with Nouns.
On account of the common use of the double pronoun construction
treated in 154 and 155, the object
pronouns of the third person, lo, la, los, las, le, les,
se, may be used even when the object of the verb is a noun.
The indirect object pronouns are more commonly used than the direct
object forms. For greater emphasis or for contrast, the noun object
may precede the pronoun.
| a. |
Yo le hablo a mí
padre. |
I speak to my father. |
| Se lo dí a María. |
I gave it to Mary. |
| |
| b. |
A Juan lo ví ayer y a
María la ví hoy. |
I saw John yesterday and I saw Mary to-day. |
A mi padre dile lo que quieras
pero a mi
hermana no le digas nada. |
Tell my father what you wish, but don't
say anything to my sister. |
|
