5.5 Introducción: Le doy las llaves a mi amigo

An indirect object is the recipient of the direct object.

To easily identify the indirect object of a sentence, ask the question “To whom?” or “For whom?” is something (the direct object) being sent, said, given, or written, etc.

For example, if I give the keys to my friend, the keys are the direct object (what do I give? → the keys). My friend, then, is the indirect object (to whom do I give the keys? → to my friend).

We can use a pronoun here as well to replace the word friend with him: I give him the keys.

In this section, we will start to learn about using indirect object pronouns in Spanish. Don’t panic, though. You’ve already seen this concept in action with the verb gustar.

Me gusta el libro. El libro (subject) is pleasing (verb) to me (indirect object pronoun!).