Indirect Objects and Objects of Prepositions

Indirect Objects

Manuel takes the flowers to Ana.
Manuel lleva las flores a Ana.

Marta reads the story to the boy.
Marta lee el cuento al niño.

The girl washes the plate for the mother.
La niña lava el plato para la madre.
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What do you notice about the indirect object? Just as in English, the "to" or "for" are expressed, and when the indirect object is a noun, it's not hard to translate into Spanish.

So ask yourself "to or for whom or what?" is the verb action:
To whom does Manuel take the flowers? To Ana.

To whom does Marta read the story? To the boy.

For whom does the girl wash the plate? For the mother.

As you will see in the Idioms module, some expressions use an indirect object in Spanish while the English uses a subject:
English: I like tacos.
Spanish: A mí me gustan tacos (Tacos are pleasing to me.)
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Objects of Prepositions

Similarly, with nouns as the objects of prepositions, simple translation is possible:
English: Alberto brings the book with Ana.
Spanish: Alberto trae el libro con Ana.

English: We go to the house.
Spanish: Vamos a la casa.

The next two pages will elaborate on personal pronouns used as objects.
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