Grammatical Concepts

  1. Home
  2. Grammatical Concepts

IOPs vs DOPs

What is the point of them?

Makes life less redundant.

Life without IOPs and DOPs.

  • “Did you ask Meredith about the letter I gave you?”
  • “Yes, I did ask Meredith about the letter you gave me.”
  • “Are you sure that you asked Meredith about the letter that I gave to you?”
  • “Yes, I am sure that I asked Meredith about the letter that you gave me.”

Life with IOPs and DOPs.

  • “Did you ask Meredith about the letter I gave you?”
  • "Yes, I asked her about it."
  • And so on...
IOPs

For or to somebody

  • Replaces the noun that is INDIRECTLY affected by the action.
  • If something is happening TO somebody or FOR somebody, that "somebody" is the IOP.
    • Examples
  • Samona threw the ball to me.
  • I bought the gifts for my brother.
IOPs, according to subject
me nos
te os
le les
DOPs

A direct affect

  • Replaces the noun that is DIRECTLY affected by the action.
  • Always check if noun is IOP. If not, it's DOP. Follow this process always.
    • Examples
  • They called my mother.
  • Samona threw the ball.
DOPs, according to subject
me nos
te os
lo/la los/las

*Note*: ALWAYS make sure to rephrase the English sentence in order to best understand what is the IOP and DOP. For example, this sentence makes it hard to understand which is which, but when changed further, it reveals that "her" is not the DOP, but rather the IOP.
"Our grandma sent her flowers" ---> "Our grandma sent flowers to her".

Rules to keep in mind!

Rule #1: People before Objects

No matter where they are placed, if both an IOP and DOP are used, the IOP is placed before the DOP.

    Examples
  • She sent it to me. ---> Ella me lo envió.
  • We bought it for you. ---> Nosotros te la compramos.
  • I sold it to you all. ---> Yo os la vendí.
Rule #2: "Double L" creates "Se"

If the IOP and the DOP are in the third and/or sixth form

  • IOP = "le/les" and DOP = "lo/la/los/las".

The IOP turns into "Se"

  • I buy the book for her.
    1. The Book = DOP = lo | for her = IOP = le = se
    2. Yo se lo compro.
Rule #3: Where they can be placed

We can place IOPs and DOPs...

Before a conjugated verb

(if unconfident, choose this).

  1. I buy books for her.
  2. Yo se los compro.
Attached to infinitive

(if both IOP and DOP are attached, infintive requires an accent on ending vowel).

  1. Poner
  2. Ponerla
  3. Ponérsela
Attached to Present Participle

(needs an accent if one is or both are attached

AR
  1. Comprando
  2. Comprándola
  3. Comprándosela
ER/IR
  1. Vendiendo
  2. Vendiéndonos
  3. Vendiéndonosla
Attached to AFFIRMATIVE command

Read more here

Practice: Translate the sentences using IOPs and DOPs.

Do not use punctuation. Include subjects where needed. First one has been done for you.

Ser vs Estar

Ser - NOTED
  1. Nationality - Yo soy americano.
  2. Origin - Ella es de Iraq.
  3. Time - Son las tres.
  4. Events - La fiesta es en la escuela.
    • ONLY for event locations.
  5. Description - La casa es verde.
Estar - HELPP
  1. Health - Estoy enfermo.
  2. Emotion - Estamos tristes.
  3. Location - Ella está en su casa.
  4. Present Condition - La puerta está rota.
  5. Present Progressive - Vosotros estáis leyendo el libro.
Practice!

Gustar and its Construction

English vs Spanish

ENGLISH: We say "I like the pizza" or "We like playing soccer".

SPANISH: We say "the pizza is pleasing to me" or "Playing soccer is pleasing to us".

Gustar Formula

If we dissect the Spanish sentence, we see three distinct aspects: "the pizza", "is pleasing", and "to me". "The pizza" is the subject, "Is pleasing" is the verb phrase, and "to me" is the indirect object pronoun (IOP!).

Thus, we can create a formula!

Formula for Gustar: IOP + gusta/gustan + subject.

"To me", "is pleasing", "the pizza". Gusta/gustan is chosen based on the SUBJECT. If the subject is singular, then gusta; if plural, then gustan (think third vs sixth form of gustar).

Examples
  1. I like the house.
  2. The house is pleasing to me.
  3. Me gusta la casa.
  1. We like to eat food.
  2. To eat food is pleasing to us.
  3. Nos gusta comer comida.
  1. She likes to read and write..
  2. To read and write are pleasing to her.
  3. Le gustan leer y escribir..

Practice!

Prepositional Pronouns

Sometimes, Spanish speakers want to add emphasis or clarify statements.

Before the gustar construction, add an "A ____", in which the blank is referring to the person/object who likes the object.

  • Emphasis: "I like the book." ---> "A mí me gusta el libro".
  • Clarification: "She likes the book." ---> "A ella le gusta el libro".
mí nosotros/as
ti vosotros/as
él/ella/usted/singular name ellos/ellas/ustedes/plural name
Typical Error for Gustar: Use of DOPs

Some students will include a DOP in a gustar construction, but it's incorrect. Let's explore why.

  • English: "I like the car." The car is the DOP.
  • Spanish: "The car is pleasing to me." There is no DOP!

Saber vs Conocer

Saber

Talks about facts or learned skills.

  • "I know how to speak in Spanish." ---> "Yo sė hablar en español."
  • "Do you know where a good restaurant is?" ---> "¿Sabes donde hay un buen restaurante?"
Conocer

Talks about familiarity (or lack thereof) with people/objects/places.

  • "I do not know Sofia" ---> "No conozco a Sofia."
  • "I'm not familiar with chess" ---> "No conozco el ajedrez."

Note: Remember to incorporate the personal "a" whenever the object is a person (e.g. the sofia example).

Practice! Do not use punctuation. Include subjects.

Por vs Para

Por - DAB BETIE
  1. Duration - Yo trabajo por ocho horas.
  2. 'along' - Yo quiero correr por la calle.
  3. 'by' - Nosotros hablamos por correo electrónico.
  4. Behalf/because of - Yo quiero ser un jugador de fútbol por mi amor para el deporte.
  5. Exchange - Te pagaré veinte pesos por esta pelota.
  6. 'through' - Camina por el pasillo para entrar por la puerta.
  7. In search of - Joseph fue a la tienda por sus llaves.
  8. Expressions - Por ejemplo, por cien, por supesto, etc...
Para - RIP DEDC
  1. Recipient - Yo compré un regalo para mi amigo.
  2. In order to - Yo trabajo para obtener dinero.
  3. Purpose - Ella quiere asistir a escuela para aprender.
  4. Destination - Nosotros estamos manejando para Michigan.
  5. Employment - Yo trabajo para Amazon.
  6. Deadline - Termina esta tarea para el lunes.
  7. Comparison - Para ella, el agua es mojado (wet). Padre, el agua no es mojado.
Practice!

Possessive Adjectives

Describes who/what owns something. Example: MY friend ate HIS food. ---> MI amigo comó SU comida.
mi/s nuestro/a/os/as
tu/s vuestro/a/os/as
su/sus su/sus

Note: the possesive adjective is chosen based on the gender and plurality of the noun, NOT the subject.

Practice! Seperate answers by a comma and space (e.g. "hi, hello".) but no other punctuation.