That Extra "Le" -- The Hangnail of Spanish
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IN THIS VIDEO:
Have you ever seen an extra "le" and wondered, "What is THAT for?" Me too! I wondered about that extra "le" for almost 20 years! But not anymore. I finally know the deal with that extra "le". And you can too. Just watch this video!
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Juan dio el libro a Sara doesn't necessarily sound wrong to me, as a native Spanish speaker, but it's something you'd read in Don Quijote or the Mío Cid, it sounds old. Like saying "thou art". You can do it and get understood, but you won't hear it said by Spanish speakers on a day to day basis.
I’m just glad someone made a video talking about the extra “le” so I know I’m not crazy. It really was driving me nuts and I feel better now.
Me too. I asked all my teachers and they never could explain it to me.
Same here. He didn't really explain the reasoning behind it, but he definitely did give me more confidence.
I GET IT!!!!! I was using "le" correctly with or without direct object pronouns about half the time, but what I was missing was a SIMPLE RULE to keep it straight. Yay! Juan le dio el libro a Sara. Les dieron un regalo a los niños. Le envié una carta a mi amiga. Le dije un secreto a mi hermana. Whoopee! Maybe I'll actually remember this now.
gottlos7 you just busted her bubbled.
This is the most helpful video I've seen on the extra "Le" this makes so much sense now haha
haha "Le" seems 100% logical now 😂😂
after watching many of you videos i cannot understand why you have less suscribers (and views) than ButterflySpanish. Your explanations are much shorter and much better. I get much more out of watching your videos.
Haha females get more likes on the internet. This guy is great and concise, he definitely deserves more likes
Ana also good
The answer is simple. Butterfly spanish is for beginners. This channel is for intermediate learners. There are more beginners than there are intermediate learners.
Even when butterfly covers intermediate topics she presents it in a (painfully) introductory way
@@TheUksDarkest true dat
@@kalbeser2648 most intermediates just gave up...
I had to listen a couple of times because of the word rate, but I really liked the explanation. Good job.
Your explanation of this weird concept was so easy to follow that I am in awe. You have true talent and skill for teaching! Thank you for all your effort in making these videos. 😁
Thank you! This helped a bunch! You deserve much more recognition for the work that you do
Perfect! The idea of verb "balance" and your "made up" rules really helped me to see this much more clearly than ever before. It also helps to go back to simpler patterns (as you are so good about doing but I manage to NOT do until I see your vids) and build from there. Wow!
The way you broke it down really help. It finally made sense.
It can get pretty nasty. One of his examples "Juan le compra un libro a Sara" has 2 meanings (if no more context is given).
Translation
1. Juan buys a book for Sara
2. Juan buys a book from Sara.
@@haroldbn6816 Lol
what ever the reason behind this redundant "le" is in Spanish, your explanation helped to seal the use of it. Works for us Gringo minds. Thanks a million! Awesome work!
I live in Spain. Is this concept difficult for Spanish “gringo” minds too? This is to do with English speaking minds and nothing to do with whether you are gringo or not.
Thank you! Thank you! This redundancy has been driving me crazy. It’s still weird to my English-thinking brain, but now that I understand it a bit better, I’m so much more relaxed about coming across it. Although it’s weird, it makes sense. Your rule - if an indirect object is used in English, then the indirect object pronoun must be used in Spanish - is burned into my brain and will help me so much. This is a great video.
Jordan, right now I love you. I get the big “HUH??” on many Spanish language issues. So your videos are heaven sent! You are my hero!
This is the most helpful video for someone learning spanish. I watched it 1 or 2 years ago. I've been learning spanish since then and I watched it again today and I kept waiting for the weird thing but it never came. It just makes sense now.
"I have no clue what you're even talking about..." I laughed so hard at that!
ecliviTV me too!
I legit was waiting for him to say something revolutionary, and ended up choking on my fish
Right! It was the buildup!
Same hahahaha
I didn't understand it first time (a while ago). Now I completely understand it.
You don't know how much I needed this! I was literally losing my mind. Muchas Gracias Spanish dude❤️✨
Le is mostly use for dar, decir and gustar and other verb like gustar and the rest is lo, la,
"Keep the balance." That was the key to understanding the use of "Le". It's almost musical in its application.
can you pls make a video about the "WOULD'',like haría...
Ah........THANK YOU !
Something my Cuban Spanish teacher could never explain to me (or i failed to grasp)
Now i may sleep properly at night..........
Enjoy your videos,very helpful.
Your two days spent on figuring this out is totally worth it.
Look, this video is almost 3 years old now, but I have to get this off my chest.
Maybe I am wrong, but the reason why "John le dio el libro a Sara," is weird is, because "John dio el libro a mí," is perfectly fine (note the lack of the indirect object "me").
In other words when it's to me "me" is not required, but when it's to Sara "le" is required. I doubt anyone will read this, but the fact that this wasn't addressed bothered me, since this exact topic been bugging me since I started learning Spanish.
I read it. Thank you for sharing this insight!
As a Spanish speaker, I would recommend you not to worry too much about our redundancies... they were already used by romans 2.000 years ago 😜
Wow! I feel you!! And can I say, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this! I teach English so I'm always questioning the things in my Spanish learning, looking for logic to help learn and remember. In English grammar there are rules such as in Spanish, so it helps to put a 'rule' to it, even if you just invented it. Makes TOTAL sense to me! Plus I'm starting to teach a little Spanish but feel the deep need to reallllyyyyyy understand my own queries first!
You are amazing, and so are your teaching techniques.
A lot of questions I have had while learning Spanish and found 0 convincing answers to are covered here clearly and simply.
I usually don’t leave comments; however, you are one of the few that makes one want to do it.
I hope your teaching reaches more people out there soon.
P.S. I’ll be waiting for 1m subscribers special celebration.
Audible after this Quickie: "Ohhhhhhh". The balance makes sense!
You’re absolutely great at teaching Spanish, never give up “
Absolutely fabulous!!!! That extra little bugger "el" has been like an itch I couldn't scratch!!!! Aaarrggggh!
But now - no problema.
John le dio el libro a Sara. yaaaaay
Amazing! You really have a handle on explaining stuff. I've been trying for years to figure out many Spanish sentence structures and have been scratching my head on most of them.This is the first time I haveReally begun to understand! Thank you
The indirect object pronoun "le" is absolutely essential whether used redundantly or not. How would you write "he bought a car for me" in Spanish without using the indirect object pronoun "me" in the sentence. The same goes for "te". The Spanish language, for whatever reason, uses "le" as an indirect object pronoun to mean "to him or to her". The addition of subject pronouns ( or actual) subjects in a sentence which uses "le" is used for clarification, if needed.
Soooo helpful!! I have been struggling with the damn extra le like forever... Thank you!!
this made so much sense!!! will need to watch 100x to cement it in my brain but I totally understand something I wasn't even aware of before
I love your videos and online classes. It makes learning Spanish easier and helps me to understand the "why". Thanks :)
Sorry, but in the case of ‘Juan (le) dio el libro a Sara’, the ‘le’ is optional. While it’s true that it’s more common to include it than omit it, omitting it isn’t wrong. It would only be obligatory if you put ‘A Sara’ at the beginning: ‘A Sara le dio el libro Juan.’
At 0:53 you say "Juan dio el libro a Sara is just plain wrong". Actually that sentence is grammatically correct, just not natural in day-to-day speech but you might come across sentences like that in literature or songs and they don't even sound strange in those contexts.
the other gramatically correct sentence "juan dio SU libro a sara"
İ like this man. He is so natural. and İ Learn many that ı was confused about. Thank you.
Ahhh, thank you Kemal!
Por fin!! Una explicación puedo entender.
"Una explicación *que* puedo entender" And also don't forget that in Spanish we use 2 different exclamation marks, one for opening the exclamation ( ¡ ) and another for closing it ( ! ) (although many people in the Internet don't use the opening mark, but that it is not correct). So the sentence would be:
¡¡Por fin!! Una explicación que puedo entender
;)
It's true that in Spanish we tend to use redundant pronouns. But not using them it is not wrong, just unusual. In the example that you give, "Juan dio el libro a Sara" is correct, although it sounds a little weird because usually all people use the "le".
Furthermore, I think that what you say about that the "le" is for emphasizing can lead to misunderstandings, because the extra pronouns are almost always used, not just for when we want to emphasize.
In fact, I would say that those pronouns don't have a true meaning, because they are used even in situations like "Yo me como mi bocadillo", which translated literally would be "I eat myself my sandwich" and has no sense. The true meaning is "I eat my sandwich".
Also that pronouns can be even more confusing for Spanish learners because they have different meanings. For example, when I say "Le compré un coche a Juan", it can mean that "I bought a car for Juan", and also "I bought a car from Juan". So, when you listen/read only that sentence, you can't know if Juan is the recipient of a very good gift, or if he is a car seller.
Regarding the example of "me como mi bocadillo": By coincidence, about a week ago in Mexico someone actually used a phrase that was something like "me como una botana." I was confused by this--why the pronoun? The reply was that they were using "comerse" (reflexive--to eat something up) versus "comer." So the "me" in this example is actually a reflexive pronoun, not an indirect object pronoun.
Yes, what I wanted to say with that example was that in Spanish we use meaningless pronouns in our sentences. It's is something that Spanish speakers say just because we grow listening and reading it, but when you start to think about it, you realize that it has no sense.
Totally agree! Just the fact that many verbs can be used as reflexive can be confusing, since sometimes a reflexive version of a verb has an entirely different meaning than the non-reflexive version (acusar/acusarse; desenvolver/desenvolverse). So if a verb is used in its reflexive form, I'm not always sure if it just indicates that the subject in the sentence is performing an action on itself, or if there is a more significant meaning change.
silverfire222 the letter "a" used in your sentence is the personal "a". It does not mean "to". That's why "le" is mandatory. The correct sentence would be "Juan le el libro a Sara". The name Sara may be excluded if the other party to the conversation knows who the "le" represents. But I believe proper grammar requires the indirect object pronoun "le".
So, in your example "Le compre un coche a juan" (sorry the tilde is not working), how would you make the statement to clarify whether Juan is the recipient or the seller?
FINALLY! Finally! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I'm glad to hear someone say It out loud, the kind of thought process that often pisses my teachers off and makes them say "You're thinking too much. Just memorize it".
One of the best instructive videos I have ever seen. You are excellent !
Great logical reasoning. everyone would learn it by heart after watching this.
2:55 Nico, life's too short man 😂😂😂
"Juan gave the book to ME" (emphasis using tone of voice), so why can't they just say "Juan ME dio el libro". The simple answer is: they just don't do it that way.
They say "Juan me dio el libro." -- they just wouldn't say "Juan dio el libro a mí" (without the "me").
Awesome explanation!!! Amazing the equilibrium that exists in the Spanish language.
This was so confusing to me. Thanks for your amazing explanation.
Another very informative and funny video thankyou Jordan you're a star!!!
Finally, an explanation for the use of "le" that makes sense! Thank you!
Thank You! I have struggled with this a countless times. I was beginning to think I could never understand this until I made an animal offering to the Spanish language gods but this video here makes me heave a sigh of relief. How I wish he had also included an example with LES and another one for USTED while still at it.
I've been thinking of it as a different verb (or, if you prefer, a different form of the same verb), analogous to transitive and intransitive. You can simply give something, for example, we "give blood". Let's call that "give 1" or "give, form 1". That's different from when we give something *to* someone (e.g. a book to Sara). Let's call this one "give 2" or "give, form 2".
I think "give 2" is actually describing a different thing in our minds... a different kind of action. Words mean ideas, and I think these are really two slightly different but obviously very similar ideas. With "give 1", it feels kinda like "donate", with the focus on the departure of the thing (blood or book) *from* the giver. It sounds totally normal to me to say "I gave blood" (or "I donated blood"). But yes, you can also donate something *to someone*. It wouldn't be grammatically weird at all, but maybe experientially uncommon (and thus a bit weird) to encounter the sentence "I gave blood to her".
But with "give 2", it feels kinda like "gifting", with the focus on the recipient receiving the thing. I don't know about you, but it feels weird to me to just say "I gifted a book." It's an incomplete thought. To me, if I hear "I gifted a book", I'm waiting for the "to ___."
Now, map "give 1" (to donate) to the simple unadorned verb "dar" with no indirect object pronoun: "Juan dio el libro." Juan gave the book. He just gave it, as in donate. I can imagine an event where everyone is donating things to support a person or a cause. I gave the sweater. Juan gave the book. Juan dio el libro. (Honestly, the first time I wrote "I gave a sweater. Juan gave a book." because the indefinite article sounds more natural to me. But I can also imagine that it's now after the donation event and we're looking at the donated items and there's just one sweater and one book. Anyway...)
And map "give 2" (to gift) to the verb "darle" (dar plus i.o. pronoun): "Juan le dio el libro... a alguien." Just like in English when I say "I gifted a book..." I'm expecting to hear the rest of the idea... "to whom?" "a Sara!" Because the idea in my head with "darle" or "to gift" is *different* than the idea in my head with just "dar" (donate). So, it *must* be "Juan le dio el libro a Sara." It *must*! Not because of some arbitrary rule, but because in my mind the emphasis is on the fact that I gave the book *to Sara*, and that therefore the verb is "darle", not "dar"!
You can apply this same logic to other verbs that can optionally take an indirect object:
"mandar" vs. "mandarle" ("send something" vs. "send someone something")
"decir" vs. "decirle" ("say something" vs. "tell someone something")
Even if this isn't the "real reason", it makes sense to me and it's been working for me so far. Maybe it will be helpful to someone else.
This is the explanation im looking for 😊
Great video. I wondered about the same thing. Have you done videos about, lo que or así, those always baffle me.
Wow!!! I totally get it now. Thanks to you.
Somehow your confusing explanation made it clear to me. Amazing teaching method.
Thanks for a great video. Very helpful. What you say makes a lot of sense. I'm working on this subject and making progress but it's complicated; "messy" even. For others in the same boat and asking themselves why they can't quite get to grips with it I offer this quote from "Stack Exchange", "......this is actually a complicated topic, which is treated in detail in Section 16.14 of RAE's Nueva gramática de la lengua española, which spans 7 pages".
Seven pages! What that suggests to me is that the RAE don't fully understand it or more probably the logic behind it (if indeed there is any) either!🤣🤣🤣
Einstein said, "If you can't explain it to a 6 year-old, you don't understand it". I'll go along with that. Knowing and understanding are different things.
Haha. I love it. Thanks for sharing. Glad this video helped you. I'm going to make a new video on "le" and indirect objects soon. I think I can do better now.
Brilliant. Could never be explained any better than this. ¡Punto!
I like this video! Thanks. I think that the balance is still there, we just have to think outside the box. At first, you mentioned that the repetition of "a+pronoun" is there for emphasis, for specificity. So in a sense, using someone's name (Sara) is exactly that- emphasis and specificity. So when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. They seem to lay more stress on specificity, in the sense that they also use the definite article more than we do (I like cats - LOS GATOS).
Here is an explanation: The "le" is used so that we know there is a direct object in the sentence and so that we can tell indirect objects apart from direct objects.
These incomplete phrases help us see the idea:
"Juan le dio a Sara" means that Juan gave something (which is left out for now) to Sara.
"Juan dio a Sara" means that Juan gave Sara to someone (who is not stated for now); perhaps Sara is a baseball player and he is trading her with another team.
"Dio Sara a Juan" means the reverse, that Sara gave Juan to (an omitted) someone.
"Le dio Sara a Juan means that Sara gave (an omitted) something to Juan.
When we see "Juan le dio el libro a Sara", the "le" clarifies that he is giving the book to Sara and not the other way around, which would be nonsense. Same with "Le dio Juan a Sara el libro".
I'm not sure how it works when there is are three people involved, as in "Juan le dio a Sara al otro entrenedor". Is he giving Sara to the other coach or is he giving the other coach to Sara? Perhaps the order matters in this case.
"Juan dio a Sara al entrenedor" doesn't make sense (without the "le") because it has two direct objects.
Thank you so much. I have been learning for a year now. I go to a group that includes natives. I would say for example from my reading: Les daba los buenos dias a su gato y a su perro. The dog and cat are identified, why the les?. No one could explain it. Now I can do my reading and other learning with a whole new perspective
Ned Lalley yes no one can ever properly explain... that's why I'm always confused.
It's actually not confusing after you explained it. Before you did, I was wondering "who is le?" So afterward I simply knew who it was and maybe also that's a clue on why they try to make it clear.
The Spanish Dude, you are great!
All I can say is thank you 🙏
Thank you for this. This was exactly what I needed.
You just saved my Spanish life!
"Juan dio el libro a Sara" this construction is correct in Spain. I dont know about Latin spanish though.
115DELDE en latinoamérica siempre añadimos “le”
No it's not.My spanish teacher corrected me on it.it's wrong!
How do I get a t-shirt?
Keep it the videos bro! They really help refine my Spanish.
You sir are amazing, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was lost, but now I'm found.
You are effortlessly hilarious! This makes so much sense!
What is you already know who "Le" is, do you have to still add "a sarah" at the end?
Example:
Friend: Que Juan le dio a sarah?
Me: Juan le dio el libro.
Would that work?
I think it would as long as you know the context
Friend: que le dio Juan a Sarah? *
You are a great teacher! A teacher among teachers! Gracias por todo lo qué haces! Sigue siendo tú!
Oh my word you solved one of the great mysteries of life!
Very helpful! Now I know why I need to use le, even though I don't speak any Spanish at all.
I love the way you broke that down. ... NICE!
Thank you so much for these videos, they really help us spanish learners!
the extra LE is because we can use a "sujeto tacito" and we can say that someone make any action to other someone.... example "le dio el libro" ...... "LE" means any persons make action to other person
Jordan your brilliant! I get it! The pronoun balances against the indirect object! Hey-eee! Thanks Jordan. This was a block in my understanding. Thank you so much ☺
one explanation that I heard was that it simply sounds better and its a more natural sounding sentence
Great video thanx very well explained! Could you do one as well but on the uses of "Se"? That one is just as confusing for me! Gracias
This is crazily brilliant. Thanks!
I forgot where I read this "dar," "decir" and verbs like "gustar" always just use "le." I don't know why, but once I memorized that rule, I just employed it and my brain stopped short circuiting.
Just stumbled across your videos on "Lo and "Le" today. Thank you so much for your clear explanation on both. They are so helpful. The only thing I would ask is if you could slow it down a little when speaking. I feel a little bit dizzy trying to keep up. 🤯😉 I've subscribed and will watch all your other videos. Keep up the good work. 😃👍🏼👌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
That helped so much. I get it now. Thanks greatly!
you are the boss man! no more hanging "le" por mi muchas gracias
"I just made it up. But it totally works!" Jajajaja. Es verdad.
Ahora todo esto tiene sentido por fin, muchas gracias...
De nada! Un placer!
Thanks for your wonderful lecciones. Can you give a teaching on the use of "al"! It confuses a lot because of its various uses.
I did make a video about it. Search for Spanish dude contractions.
You're a friggin genius!!
Le singular
Les plural(latin america)
Os( spain)
Tysm, i didn't even notice that it's not just le, but it's also les and os
you are a star ! Such a cool way of explaining ...! Thank you for doing what you're doing!
Super curious now if the rule applies to direct objects too. I just answered a friend, "vale, te la guardo la ropa" because it felt right, but I think "te guardo la ropa" might be more correct.
So for me this wasn’t all that confusing once you clarified abt using le the other ways. It was just being specific only using someone’s name this time...
I laughed so hard when you talked about your Colombian friend 🤣🤣
Damn Spanish dude. Killed it 🤙🤙
Gracias por la información.
But do we use it with verbs?
Thank you, this was excellent.
Thank you for this explanation. ¡Saludos de Michigan!
Great video! Can you eliminate the need to use 'le'' by saying : ¿Puedes poner abono en las flores? vs ¿ Puedes ponerles abono a las flores? I think both sentences mean the same.
This was a very satisfying treatment
John did give the book to me sounds to me as Juan me dio el libro a mí. :-)
I think in the spanish wikipedia this situation it is perfectly adressed. Spanish is a language sometimes complicated, just because some sentences are only built that way to sound better. es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complemento_indirecto
One thing that it is bothering me, it is that some of your examples are "teaching examples" that no one uses in real life. As:
"Yo le compre un helado a él" I bought him an ice cream.
In spanish we would usually say "Le compre un helado".
"Yo te pise a ti." I stepped on you "Te pise".
Redundancy is important, but usually only people who is learning the language for the first time use it.
The example: "Yo le compre un coche a sara." It is not redundant. Why? Because the indirect object is "le" and "a sara" is a complement of the indirect object nor the indirect object per se. A sara it is just to explain who is "le". In english maybe doesn't make sense but in spanish does. Because usually a normal person will say:
"Le compre un coche" and then someone could ask, to who? "a Sara"
I failed so many times spanish in school even being a spaniard that all this stupid things were firmly ingrained in my mind
Perfecta explicación. Mi profesora de inglés siempre me "retaba" por querer traducir de un idioma al otro. Al principio me molestaba, pero tenía toda la razón. Intentar entender otro idioma traduciendolo literalmente es un gran error. Además de que gramaticalmente se olvidó de unas cuantas cosas.
No I'm sorry you're wrong... "Yo le compre un coche a sara", "sara" is not complementary... It would be if we wanted to say "I bought her a car", and then "Le compre un coche a Sara" would be normal and not confusing (Sara here is just for clarity / emphasis). He explains that at 7:05 - 7:30, check it out again. But we simply want to say "I bought a car to Sara" (or "I bought Sara a car") - the subject is known from the beginning. So when we want to translate this specific sentence to Spanish, this is where the weirdness comes in (7:34).
Where do you get your amazing T-Shirts?