Indirect object pronoun redundancy
You may have noticed in the examples above that the indirect object pronoun is used in the sentence even when the indirect object noun is present (always as part of a prepositional phrase, since the verb is being done “for” or “to” someone). The pronoun is required in Spanish whereas the prepositional phrase is there for clarification.
“Gustar” and similar verbs
Did you recognize the indirect object pronouns? You learned them with the verb “gustar” back in Spanish 1 (Unit 5.3). Remember that “Me gusta” does not mean “I like it”, but rather “It pleases me” or “It gives me pleasure”: “me” is the indirect object of the sentence and the pleasure is the unstated direct object, what is being given. There are actually quite a few verbs in Spanish like “gustar”, which use indirect object pronouns to express the person who is being affected by some kind of emotional, physical or situational state. Here are the six most important ones that you should know how to use:
- Doler (to be painful to someone, to hurt)
Me duelen los oídos durante los vuelos. (My ears hurt (me) during flights.)
Note: “Los oídos” are the subject of the verb; “me” is the indirect object.
- Encantar (to be enchanting to someone, to love/adore)
Les encanta el tren a los turistas. (The tourists love the train / the train is enchanting to the tourists.)
Note: “El tren” is the subject of the verb; “les”/”los turistas” are the indirect objects.
- Faltar (to be lacking or missing from someone, to need, to have left)
Nos falta una hora de viaje antes de llegar. (We have another hour of travel before arriving.)
Note: “Una hora” is the subject of the verb; “nos” is the indirect object.
- Gustar (to be pleasing to someone, to like)
¿Te gusta viajar? (Do you like to travel? / Is travelling pleasing to you?)
Note: “Viajar” is the subject of the verb; “te” is the indirect object.
- Importar (to be important to someone, to care about)
A mi hermana le importa el turismo sostenible. (Sustainable tourism is important to my sister / My sister cares about sustainable tourism.)
Note: “El turismo sostenible” is the subject of the verb; “mi hermana”/”le” is the indirect object.
- Molestar (to be irritating to someone, to bother)
Las personas impacientes y maleducadas me molestan mucho en el aeropuerto. (Impatient and rude people bother me a lot in the airport / are irritating to me.)
Note: “Las personas” are the subjects of the verb; “me” is the indirect object.
If you want to expand your vocabulary, here are some more verbs that use indirect objects in the same way: aburrir (to be/seem boring to someone), agradar (to be pleasing to someone), bastar (to be enough for someone), disgustar (to be offensive/upsetting to someone), enojar (to make someone angry), fascinar (to fascinate someone), hacer falta (to be lacking to someone), interesar (to be interesting to someone), parecer (to seem to someone), picar (to itch, make someone feel itchy), placer (to please or satisfy someone), preocupar (to worry someone), quedar (to remain to someone).