Spanish Direct Object Pronouns: Lo Tengo, La Veo, Te Llamo

Spanish direct object pronouns are the short words that stand in for the thing or person a verb acts on: in lo hago, “I do it,” lo is the “it.” Here’s one from a street interview in Mexico City, about breakfast:

Replay the clip1 of 1

1. Pero yo no los hago porque no me salen.But I don't make them because they never come out right. · Easy Spanish · Mexico City

Los stands for los chilaquiles, a Mexican breakfast dish. Notice the two things English speakers miss: the pronoun copies the Spanish word it replaces, and it comes before the verb.

What Spanish direct object pronouns replace

What are direct objects? The nouns that receive the action: the book you have, the friend you call. A direct object pronoun replaces that noun so you don’t say it twice.

How to find the direct object in Spanish

The direct object, Spanish or English, answers “what?” or “whom?” right after the verb. I have… what? The book. I call… whom? My mom.

The trap is a group of verbs that need a preposition in English and none in Spanish. Buscar already means “look for,” so what you’re looking for is a plain direct object. Spanish adds nothing:

English	Spanish	With a pronoun
look for	buscar	La busco.
wait for	esperar	Lo espero.
listen to	escuchar	Te escucho.
look at	mirar	Las miro.

So it’s estoy buscándolas, never buscando por ellas. Each verb has its own page: buscar, esperar, escuchar, mirar.

The forms: me, te, lo, la, nos, los, las

Who or what	Pronoun	English
yo	me	me
tú, vos	te	you (informal)
él, usted (man), a masculine noun	lo	him, it, you (formal)
ella, usted (woman), a feminine noun	la	her, it, you (formal)
nosotros, nosotras	nos	us
masculine or mixed plural, ustedes	los	them, you all
feminine plural, ustedes (all women)	las	them, you all

Spain adds os for vosotros (os veo mañana). Me, te and nos look like the reflexive pronouns: mi mamá me llama is a direct object, me lavo is reflexive (Spanish reflexive verbs).

English uses “it” for everything. Spanish copies the gender and number of the noun: masculine singular takes lo, feminine plural takes las, and a mix takes los.

Lo and la for usted

Usted takes lo for a man and la for a woman, so lo can mean “him” or “you.” Context sorts it out: Señora, la llamo mañana is “Ma’am, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Neuter lo: no lo sé

Lo can also stand for an idea, with no noun behind it: no lo sé (I don’t know), ya lo sé (I know), lo digo (I say so). This lo never changes.

Replay the clip1 of 1

1. Si algo me molesta o no estoy cómodo, lo digo.If something bothers me or I'm not comfortable, I say so. · Easy Spanish · Mexico

Where the direct object pronoun goes

English puts “it” after the verb. Spanish usually puts it before:

• Before a conjugated verb: lo veo, no lo veo.
• Attached to an infinitive, a gerund or an affirmative command: verlo, viéndolo, ¡cómpralo!
• Two verbs together, you choose: lo voy a comprar or voy a comprarlo.
• Negative command, back in front: no lo compres.

The stress stays where it was, so the gerund and the command pick up a written accent (viéndolo, cómpralo); the infinitive doesn’t (comprarlo). Same rules in the RAE’s guide to unstressed pronouns.

In Mexico City, a question about tortillas uses the infinitive spot twice:

Replay the clip1 of 1

1. ¿Tienes algún tip de cómo guardarlas o cómo recalentarlas?Do you have any tips on how to store them or reheat them? · Easy Spanish · Mexico City

Placement takes the most repetition, and the direct object pronouns practice page drills it with audio.

The personal a: when the direct object is a person

When the direct object is a specific person, Spanish puts a in front of it: veo a mi abuela. That a has no English translation, and it disappears when the pronoun comes in: la veo.

Personal a	No personal a
a specific person: Veo a María.	a thing: Veo la casa.
a person you know: Busco a mi médico.	any person: Busco un médico.
a pet: Busco a mi perro.	with tener: Tengo dos hermanos.

Pets get the a because you feel close to them, as the RAE’s entry on the preposition a explains.

Direct object pronoun Spanish examples from native speakers

Three more direct object pronoun Spanish examples, from Mexico City and Barcelona:

Replay the clip1 of 3

1. Si hubiera cerca de mi casa, seguro que la utilizaría.If there were one near my house, I'd definitely use it. · Easy Spanish · Mexico City
2. Únicamente los veo cuando subimos y bajamos de los pisos.I only see them when we're going up or down in the building. · Easy Spanish · Barcelona, Spain
3. Total, México ya lo conozco.Anyway, I already know Mexico. · Easy Spanish · Mexico City

La is la Ecobici, Mexico City’s shared bike: English says “it,” Spanish says la. Los is los vecinos, the neighbors. And when the object opens the sentence (México), Spanish repeats it with a pronoun: México ya lo conozco.

Quick check: lo, la, los or las?

For 20 more sentences with audio, plus le and se lo, go to the direct object pronouns practice.

Lo, le or se? Which pronoun you need

Each small pronoun next to the verb answers a different question:

Ask	Pronoun	Example	Lesson
what? whom?	lo, la, los, las	Lo vi ayer.	this one
to whom? for whom?	le, les	Le escribí.	indirect pronouns (gustar already uses them)
both at once	se lo, se la	Se lo di.	combining pronouns
back to the subject?	me, te, se	Me lavo.	reflexive verbs

Unsure? Ask the question after the verb. “What?” or “whom?” points to lo, la, los, las, and the Spanish noun picks which one.