Recursio
Lesson 49. I give him or her: le doy
10 words in this lesson
Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.
le / les; dar
To whom? Me, te, le…
These short words answer “to whom?”:
| me | (to) me |
| te | (to) you |
| le | (to) him, her, you (usted) |
| nos | (to) us |
| os | (to) you all (vosotros) |
| les | (to) them, you all (ustedes) |
You’ve already met them: me gusta, le gusta (lesson 26).
They go in the same place as lo / la (lesson 48): before the conjugated verb — Le regalo un libro; with an infinitive, attached or before: Voy a enviarle un mensaje / Le voy a enviar un mensaje.
Le… a Lucía
Spanish often names the recipient and also uses le / les: Le doy las llaves a Lucía. Les escribo a mis padres. This doubling is natural; Doy las llaves a Lucía is also possible.
Dar
| dar — to give | |
|---|---|
| yo | doy |
| tú | das |
| él, ella, usted | da |
| nosotros | damos |
| vosotros | dais |
| ellos, ustedes | dan |
Only the yo form is irregular: doy, like soy and voy.
Words in this lesson
Contar and devolver change their vowel: cuento, devuelvo. Enviar: envío, envías. Enseñar here means “to show”: ¿Me enseñas la foto?
Using two of these pronouns together (it to me, it to him) comes later.
Le doy las llaves a Lucía. — I give Lucía the keys.
¿Me prestas el coche? — Can you lend me the car?
Les escribo a mis padres. — I'm writing to my parents.
¿Me enseñas la foto? — Will you show me the photo?
Te devuelvo el libro mañana. — I'll give you the book back tomorrow.
Dialogue
Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.
Javier Lucía, el martes voy a Valencia. ¿Me prestas tu maleta? Lucía, I'm going to Valencia on Tuesday. Can you lend me your suitcase?
Lucía Sí, pero tienes que devolverla el domingo. Sure, but you have to give it back on Sunday.
Javier Muy bien. Y te doy las llaves de mi casa. Llega un paquete el miércoles. OK. And I'll give you the keys to my place. A parcel is arriving on Wednesday.
Lucía ¿Un paquete? ¿Qué es? A parcel? What is it?
Javier Unos libros. Es un regalo de mi hermana. Some books. It's a present from my sister.
Lucía ¿Y qué le regalas a tu madre? And what are you giving your mother?
Javier Le regalo un libro. Y le escribo una carta. I'm giving her a book. And I'm writing her a letter.
Lucía ¡Muy bonito! ¿Y a mí? ¿Me traes naranjas de Valencia? How lovely! And me? Will you bring me oranges from Valencia?
Check yourself
Listen. What did you hear?
1. How do you say “I give Lucía the keys”?
2. How do you ask a friend “Can you lend me the car?”
3. How do you say “I'm writing to my parents”?
4. How do you say “We're giving Nora a present”?
Match each word with its translation
Build the sentence: “I give Lucía the keys”
Build the question: “Can you lend me the car?”
What you can do now
- Say who you give something to: Le doy las llaves a Lucía.
- Ask: ¿Me prestas el coche?
- Say who you write to: Les escribo a mis padres.
- Promise to return something: Te devuelvo el libro mañana.
Key phrases of the lesson:
Le doy las llaves a Lucía.
¿Me prestas el coche?
Les escribo a mis padres.
Day 49 of 100. Next up: the following lesson.
Lesson 50. Module 10 review and test →The course is the first step. Next comes the Recursio app: short daily practice with spaced review.