Complete Spanish

Track 37

1. lo, la, los, las become le and les Rule

The central rule of the track. When you mean to him, for her, and so on, the four l-words collapse into two.

lo / la → le  ·  los / las → les

Compare: lo doy is I give it. But I give her does not mean picking her up and handing her over: it means I give to her, so it takes le.

lo doy / los doy
I give it / I give them (the things)
le doy
I give to him, to her, to you (formal)
les doy
I give to them, to you (plural)

Les doy algo · Le he hablado · Le hemos hablado · Le han hablado · Les han hablado · Le hablo · Les hablo · Les hablan

Note how many meanings le carries: it can come from lo or from la, so le hemos hablado is we have spoken to him, to her, or to you formally.

2. me, te and nos never change Grammar

Only the l-words shift. Me, te and nos already carry every meaning: me, to me, for me, from me, myself.

me cocina algo
he is cooking me something
nos cocina algo
he is cooking something for us
te cocina algo
he is cooking something for you

Le cocina algo · Les cocina algo · Los cocina (the things he is cooking) · Las cocina · Nos las cocina

Since me, te and nos do not change, you never have to decide with them. He is cooking me in the oven and he is cooking something for me come out as the same word.

3. Chase the feeling, not the English preposition Method

Do not look for a direct translation of whether English used to or for. English is inconsistent about it anyway: I listen to him, but I hear him.

What you want to perceive is the feeling. Am I being cooked? Am I being spoken, coming out of somebody's mouth? Or is it indirect: am I being cooked for, being given to?

4. me doy cuenta, I realize Vocabulary

To realize is to give yourself account. Cuenta is something like account, so it is close to the English to take account of.

me doy cuenta
I realize
te das cuenta
you realize
nos damos cuenta
we realize

¿Te das cuenta? is used a lot conversationally: do you realize? do you know what I mean?

Do not reach for realizar. That means to realize in the sense of bringing a project into fruition.

5. The future of dar, and the thought order Grammar

daré, daremos
I will give, we will give
dará, darán, darás
the rest of the set

¿Me lo darán? · ¿Me la darán? · Te darán algo · Te lo darán · Nos lo darán · No nos lo darán

Remember the thought process: first, who is doing the verb? That is the first place your mind goes. Only then the objects.

6. This is not a request Heads-up

English uses will you give it to me? as a polite request, meaning can you. Spanish ¿me lo darán? does not do that. It is a literal question about the future: are you going to give it to me?

For the request sense, use can you instead.