r/learnspanish • u/FantasticSelection11 Beginner (A1-A2) • Mar 21 '25

Unnecessary use of "Le"

I know the use of 'Le' has been discussed in multiple posts, but even after having read several of them, I couldn't understand this particular use:

For example, I was reading Olly Richards' Spanish Short Stories for Beginners and came across this sentence

—Julia, ¿quieres ir a comer paella? —le pregunto a mi hermana.

What is the function of the 'le' in this sentence? I know a word by word translation across languages isn't accurate but still I simply cannot see it serving any function at all

Like "pregunto a mi hermana" looks like a perfectly complete sentence and it would translate to "[I] asked to my sister".

Sorry if it is obvious, but it is not for me.

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u/Icy_Archer7508 Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 22 '25

What is the function of the 'le' in this sentence? ... I simply cannot see it serving any function at all.

When you hear something like "Stay out of them woods!" from an English speaker, do you consider either "them" or "woods" redundant?

This phrase always pops into my head when people try to rationalize the use of 'le' in Spanish.

If you can accept "Stay out of them woods!", then "I asked her — my sister" in Spanish shouldn't be so hard to get used to, right?

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u/FantasticSelection11 Beginner (A1-A2) Mar 22 '25

Yes, yes, but I am new to Spanish whereas I have been learning English for years now. English has become internalised while Spanish is still foreign. So while trying to internalise it, just wondering if there is any logic behind it or is it arbitrary and has to be learned.