November 15, 2022

[James Leow, Ph.D.](https://blog.duolingo.com/author/james/)

# Dear Duolingo: Why do Spanish dialects use “le” and “lo” differently?

Not all Spanish speakers use “le” and “lo” the same way!

_Welcome to another week of Dear Duolingo, an advice column just for language learners. Catch up on past installments_ [_here_](https://blog.duolingo.com/tag/dear-duolingo/) _._

Hey, learners! James here. I’m back taking over Dear Duolingo this week with more answers to your Spanish questions—this time about Spanish dialects! Last time, we talked about the [Spanish words _lo_ and _le_](https://blog.duolingo.com/direct-indirect-objects-spanish/), and one clever learner has noticed some variation in how those words are used. Let’s take a look!

### Our question this week:

Alright, Total-le Confused, it’s Spanish teacher confession time: There’s more going on with objects than I included in my last post. 😅

Previously, I showed you examples where the categories **direct object** ( _lo_) and **indirect object** ( _le_) were clearly defined—some things are direct objects, some things are indirect objects, _¡y ya!_ (And that’s it!) But just like other things in nature, language categories can be a bit fuzzy—like how a platypus is a mammal that lays eggs… 🤯

So the first thing to clear up is that the Spanish speakers in the Netflix series you watched didn’t make a mistake! This kind of variation happens all the time because language is always evolving (just like nature!). In this case, using _le_ where we might expect _lo_ is so common that it has a name: _leísmo_.

## What is _leísmo?_

Traditionally, the _leísmo_ variation was something attributed to the Spanish spoken in Spain. Its use is so widespread that it’s even acknowledged by the _Real Academia Española,_ or Royal Spanish Academy (now that’s some cred). In _leísmo,_ _le_ is used when the direct object is masculine and a human, as in _**Le** veo_ (I see him).

But there are actually _many_ varieties where you’ll find _le_ in “unexpected” places, even beyond the _leísmo_ we find in Spain! In fact, there are even many versions of _leísmo_ within Spain itself.

In the table below, you’ll find some of the variation that exists in the Spanish-speaking world. I’ve included four different varieties (there are others!), and you’ll notice that different things affect whether we get _le_ for _lo_ (or _la_), such as:

- Whether the object is masculine or feminine
- Whether the object is a human or an inanimate object (like a book or a coffee)
- Whether the verb usually has human or inanimate objects (we _**see**_ a lot of things and people, but we tend to _**help**_ people and not inanimate objects)

While _leísmo_ is common in Spain, the variety that I am ✨ super-officially ✨ calling “Some _le_” is what you will find most commonly in Latin America! (Oh, also: You won’t _actually_ hear it called "Super _leísmo,_," either, but a linguist can dream…)

|  | Previous post | Some _le_ | _Leísmo_ | Super _Leísmo_ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| I see my brother. | Lo veo. | Lo veo. | **Le** veo. | **Le** veo. |
| I see my sister. | La veo. | La veo. | La veo. | **Le** veo. |
| I see a book. | Lo veo. | Lo veo. | Lo veo. | **Le** veo. |
| I help my brother. | Lo ayudo. | **Le** ayudo. | **Le** ayudo. | **Le** ayudo. |
| I help my sister. | La ayudo. | **Le** ayudo. | La ayuda. | **Le** ayudo. |
| I gave him a coffee. | **Le** di un café. | **Le** di un café. | **Le** di un café. | **Le** di un café. |

And for the eagle eyes in the room, this table is simplified! You might encounter speakers switching between _lo_ and _le_ for more reasons and in slightly different ways than what’s presented here. And there are plenty of other varieties out there as well!

## Why _leísmo_? Why?

“Why” is my favorite question as both a teacher and linguist. And in the case of _leísmo,_ there are a number of possible explanations for why we see _le_ when we expect _lo_ (or _la_).

One common pattern that we find is that speakers tend to use _le_ **when people are involved**. And this may be due to 🎶 R-E-S-P-E-C-T 🎶. Remember that direct objects usually have things happening to them: they are a gift being given, a ball being thrown, money being exchanged. Indirect objects (Spanish _le_), on the other hand, tend to have a little more authority as the recipient of a gift, the catcher of the ball, etc. So when humans are direct objects, we can give them a “promotion” by using _le_.

In fact, this sort of mini promotion leads to really interesting distinctions in respect and authority. Some Spanish speakers will use _lo_ and _le_ for slightly different meanings, like in the following sentence, depending on whether the patient in question is conscious or unconscious:

- _**Lo** llevamos al hospital._ (We took him to the hospital.) Because _lo_ is usually used for direct objects—things being acted upon and often passively—the person going to the hospital is understood to be unconscious.
- _**Le** llevamos al hospital._ (We took him to the hospital.) Here, because _le_ is usually used for indirect objects, with a bit more authority, it’s assumed the person is conscious!

Now that’s a subtle distinction!

## What’s a Spanish learner to do?

First, **don’t panic**. I remember when I was first learning Spanish I _really_ wanted to get. it. right. I wanted to know the rules perfectly so that my Spanish would be perfect. Confronting fuzziness in rules was viscerally challenging for me, and it can be hard to swallow even in your own language! But I learned that what’s most important is [accomplishing my goal to communicate](https://blog.duolingo.com/fluency-language-learning/). And fortunately choosing _lo_ or _le_ in these situations is unlikely to cause communication breakdown. If your use of one or the other raises an eyebrow, just remember that variation across Spanish dialects raises eyebrows all the time! Just think about English: In the U.K. they say “anti-clockwise” instead of U.S. “counter-clockwise,” and in the UK you may hear “your team are losing,” (🤯) where in the U.S. we only hear “your team is losing.”

Second, **get curious**. Put on your linguist cap and see if you can discover patterns in the use of _le_ and _lo._ It’s not about trying to find out [what’s "right"](https://blog.duolingo.com/language-discrimination/); it’s about trying to find out what’s happening! Can you predict when the folks in your Netflix show will use _lo_ or _le_? What are the kinds of sentences and verbs you hear it with?

Third, **trust your brain**. Our brains are pattern-finding machines, which means that with enough [exposure to the language](https://blog.duolingo.com/language-learning-acquisition/), certain patterns of language will just start to “sound right.” If you have a lot of exposure to a _leísta_ dialect, you may find that you, too, will start saying things like _No **le** veo_.

In the Duolingo Spanish course, you’ll mostly be seeing the pattern described in the table above described as “Some _le_” because this is what’s most common in Latin America. But, remember: It’s not because that pattern is better or more correct than the others, and in fact, we accept other varieties as correct answers! After reading this post, it would be fun to (re-)listen to some episodes of [Duolingo’s Spanish Podcast](https://podcast.duolingo.com/spanish?ref=blog.duolingo.com), with speakers from around the world, to notice what patterns they use!

## Grammar is the _object_ of my affection 😏

Alright Total-le Confused, I hope you’re feeling Total-le Enlightened! It can be a bit shocking when we find Spanish in the "real world" that doesn’t follow the rules that we learn in class (or _ahem_ in a Duolingo blog post). But hopefully you’ve seen that even when speakers “break the rules” they are still following rules… just different ones! Don’t worry about getting it perfect! Just get curious, listen, and your brain will do the rest 😁

If this post left you dying to know more about Spanish, get in touch with us by emailing [dearduolingo@duolingo.com](mailto:dearduolingo@duolingo.com).