Do you Know LoLa?

Her name was Lola... sang Barry Manilow in his seventies hit Copacabana, perhaps thinking in how helpful this common name in Spanish would be forty years later for this post. And it´s because it might help you remember Direct Object Pronouns LO & LA - Ring any bells? - at least by name.

To know a little more than that about them, let´s have some clear definitions first:

1. Direct Object: In a sentence, the thing (or person) that directly receives the action of a verb.

Juan come tacos.
John eats tacos.

Rosalba compra fruta en el mercado.
Rosalba buys fruit at the market.

Lucía lleva a su hijo a la escuela.
Lucia takes her son to school.

In order to know what the Direct Object is in these sentences ask questions What? or Whom? to the verb.

What does Juan eat? tacos
What does Rosalba buy? fruit
Who(m) does Lucia take to school? her son

2. Pronoun: A word that is used instead of a noun (thing or person), in this case, LO & LA (and their plural forms LOS & LAS).

So, if we don´t want to use the noun - tacos, fruit or her son in the examples used -such as in a conversation where it would be redundant repeating the noun over and over, we instead choose to use these Direct Object Pronouns.

Let´s use the same sentences as before, taking out the noun and placing a DO Pronoun:

John eats them. (the tacos)
Juan los come.

Rosalba buys it (fruit) at the market.
Rosalba la compra en el mercado.

Lucía takes him (her son)to school.
Lucía lo lleva a la escuela.

Wether to use LO, LA, LOS, LAS depends on the noun (person or thing) being masculine or feminine / singular or plural.

Take a Look:

Luis tiene su coche en el taller. Luis has his car at the carshop.
Luis lo tiene en el taller. Luis has it at the carshop.

Mi mamá manda correos electrónicos a toda la familia. My mother sends e-mails to all the family.
Mi mamá los manda a toda la familia. My mother sends them to all the family.

Ella pone las llaves en la mesa. She puts the keys on the table.
Ella las pone en la mesa. She puts them on the table.

Mis hermanos manejan bien la empresa. My brothers manage the company well.
Mis hermanos la manejan bien. My brothers manage it well.

Keep posted for more on DO Pronouns!