The following information was obtained from About.com website. "
Just as in English, verbs can be accompanied by direct and indirect objects. A direct object is the noun or pronoun that the verb acts directly on. In a sentence such as "I see Sam," "Sam" is the direct object of "see" because "Sam" is the object that seen. But in a sentence such as "I am writing Sam a letter," "Sam" is the indirect object. The item being written is "letter," so it is the direct object. "Sam" is the indirect object as one who is affected by the verb's action on the direct object. " If you're learning Spanish, the distinction can be important to make because Spanish, unlike English, sometimes uses different pronouns for direct and indirect objects.
Here are the direct-object pronouns along with examples of their uses:
| me |
me |
Juan puede verme.
John can see me. |
| te |
you (singular familiar) |
No te conoce.
He doesn't know you. |
| lo |
you (singular masculine formal), him, it |
No puedo verlo.
I can't see you, or
I can't see him, or
I can't see it. |
| la |
you (singular feminine formal), her, it |
No puedo verla.
I can't see you, or
I can't see her, or
I can't see it. |
| nos |
us |
Nos conocen.
They know us. |
| os |
you (plural familiar) |
Os ayudaré.
I will help you. |
| los |
you (plural formal, masculine or mixed masculine and feminine), them (masculine or mixed masculine and feminine) |
Los oigo.
I hear you, or
I hear them. |
| las |
you (plural feminine formal), them (feminine) Los oigo. |
I hear you, or
I hear them. |
Note that lo, la, los and las can refer to either people or things. If they are referring to things, use the same gender as the name of the object being referred to. Example: Tengo dos boletos. ¿Los quieres? (I have two tickets. Do you want them?) But, Tengo dos rosas. ¿Las quieres? (I have two roses. Do you want them?) |