What a direct object pronoun does
A direct object pronoun replaces the direct object – the part of the sentence that answers whom? or what?. English turns I see the book into I see it, and Spanish does the same, but the pronoun goes in front of the verb. With a person, the personal a (Conozco a María) disappears too.
From object to pronoun
Lo veo.
I see it. (the book)
La conozco.
I know her. (María)
The forms
In the first and second person the forms are the same whoever you are talking about. Only the third person splits by gender: lo/los (masculine), la/las (feminine).
me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las
| Person | Pronoun | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | me | me |
| 2nd sg. | te | you |
| 3rd sg. masculine | lo | him / it |
| 3rd sg. feminine | la | her / it |
| 1st pl. | nos | us |
| 2nd pl. | os | you (all) |
| 3rd pl. masculine | los | them |
| 3rd pl. feminine | las | them |
English you is spread over several rows: te for one person you address as tú, os for a group in Spain, and lo or la for polite usted, which is grammatically third person.
¿Me escuchas?
Can you hear me?
El profesor nos ayuda.
The teacher helps us.
Señora López, la llamo mañana.
Mrs López, I'll call you tomorrow.
lo or la follows the gender of the noun
English says it for every object, so you have never had to choose. In Spanish the third-person pronoun matches the gender and number of the noun it replaces, so you need to know that noun's gender: la película is feminine, hence la.
La película es buena. La veo esta noche.
The film is good. I'm watching it tonight.
Busco las llaves, pero no las encuentro.
I'm looking for the keys, but I can't find them.
Where the pronoun goes
The pronoun goes immediately in front of the conjugated verb, the opposite of English (I see it). With negation no comes first: No lo veo, not Lo no veo.
¿El libro? Lo tengo en casa.
The book? I've got it at home.
No los conozco.
I don't know them.
Te llamo esta noche.
I'll call you tonight.
With an infinitive or a gerund the pronoun can also be attached (Lo quiero ver or Quiero verlo).
