Putting Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns in a Sentence

Activity Overview

After learning the definition and function of an indirect object, how to identify it in a sentence, and the Spanish indirect object pronoun forms, students can begin to practice replacing indirect object nouns with pronouns, as well as placing them correctly in a sentence. Often, sentences with indirect objects also have direct objects, so the process requires more attention.

Have students write various, original, sample questions and answers to demonstrate their understanding of indirect object nouns and pronouns. The questions should include indirect object nouns, and the responses should use indirect object pronouns. The process for using indirect object pronouns has multiple steps, and the temptation for a new student is to rush through it, but practicing slowly and methodically leads to fewer errors. Similar to the direct object pronoun exercise, students must proceed deliberately and show each of their steps. In the first row, the student must correctly identify the indirect object noun in their question.

It’s possible that the student has chosen a sentence that doesn’t have any indirect objects, in which case they must try again until they are successful with the task of this first row. In the second row, the student must show their process of selecting the correct indirect object pronoun for the response to their question. In this row, students must also be careful to ensure that they are answering the question with the appropriate verb and pronoun changes, if not additional changes. A good example of this is in the second column. The second row cell also requires students to be able to provide the English translation of responses. In the final row, the student puts the conversation together, showing proper placement of the indirect object pronoun. Have students provide as many different examples as needed for mastery.

The test question for identifying the indirect object correctly is, “Subject verb (direct object) to/for whom?”

*If there is an answer to the above question, it is the indirect object.