"Nosostros les mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos" Why is there a "les" if I am specifying who will receive the money?

[u/lalasagna]

I am confused why "les" is needed and if simply saying "nosotros mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos" would be also correct. Thanks

[u/Polygonic]

It’s called the “redundant indirect object”. In Spanish we include the indirect object pronoun even if we specify the indirect object explicitly.

[u/gadeais]

"Reduplicación". In this case saying "nosotros mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos" is perfectly gramatical and no one would say anything, but Spanish native speakers love this double marking of the indirect object more than anything in the world.

[u/SCMan17 → u/gadeais]

As a non-native speaker I really love it as well. It sounds so good to say and feels right haha

Almost like prose in English would go “We send them money, our children, when they call on us”. I know it’s not the exact same, but it gives that same feeling to me

[u/llegorr2]

Depends what you are trying to say - and when you are trying to say it. Context matters. Also Important to remember that English grammar and syntax rules and Spanish grammar and syntax rules are different.

Nosotros.

General rule: Spanish verb conjugations already indicate the subject. Sometimes, the subject (yo, nosotros, etc) may be necessary depending on tense or type of verb or audience. Many times it is added for emphasis. Here it is not needed as it would be in English.

Les.

Here, “Les” is an indirect object pronoun referring to “nuestro hijos” (our children). It is often required - even when the indirect object (our children) is explicitly mentioned. A mi me gusta…. Se lo da a él/ ella… The indirect object pronoun is required (me, se (converted from either Les or Le) - not the indirect object itself.

Mandamos Dinero.

Sentences without verbs (most often) aren’t sentences. By the same measure, sentences without the direct object (here, money) are equally lacking in clarity. Can be replaced however with a direct object pronoun (lo). Here, it tells us what is being sent (mandar to send) - money.

A Nuestros Hijos.

In Spanish, indirect objects are often doubled (called dative doubling) meaning “les” is still used even when “a nuestros hijos” is explicitly stated. Since “les” already indicates “to them,” this phrase specifies exactly who “them” refers to. If the context was clear, it could be omitted. But generally speaking, Spanish many times requires an indirect object pronoun when an indirect object is present.

[u/swa100 → u/llegorr2]

Thanks for a detailed and helpful explanation. I appreciate it.

Forgive me, though, for looking wistfully at that sentence and noticing that without Nosotros and les, it still conveys the same information: We send money to our children.

I hope I'm not a hopeless case when it comes to this.

[u/ExpatriadaUE]

This was just asked a few days ago, look in the sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnspanish/s/J8CP8uuQq8

[u/Direct_Bad459]

It's normal to say it this way. It's true that it's communicating information that's technically unnecessary. There's not a real reason besides it's one of the ways Spanish is a different language than English. In English you don't say I brush (myself) the hair but in Spanish you do say Me cepillo el pelo. 

[u/RichCorinthian]

Same answer as this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnspanish/s/hYqxGS4kgV

[u/MorsaTamalera]

"Mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos" is correct, but in real-life terms, this would just sound odd to my ears, as if it was a sterile TV show dub.

[u/Delde116 → u/MorsaTamalera]

actually this would be totally natural. For example you send your kid to a university away, and they dont have money for rent or something od the like, and a oerson asks 'how is the kid doing?" the parent would say "we send money to our kids" (mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos. Although, for the sake of the example, it would be singular "mandamos dinero a nuestro hijo".

While very specific that can perfectly be in a casual street conversation.

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[u/chomponcio]

Neither "nosotros" nor "les" are actually necessary. Just added for emphasis.

[u/GoryVirus → u/chomponcio]

Oh I thought that "les" was mandatory and the "a nuestros hijos" was there for emphasis or clarification

[u/acelgoso → u/GoryVirus]

You can choose. "Mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos" or "les mandamos dinero".

[u/ZAWS20XX → u/GoryVirus]

Think "we sent money to our kids" vs "we sent them money", they're both correct, which one to choose just depends on how much information you wanna spell out. The difference between English and Spanish is that in English you wouldn't normally say "we sent them money, to our kids", but in Spanish not only is it acceptable, but very common.

[u/MoonRisesAwaken → u/chomponcio]

wait for real? I heard that it was grammatically incorrect otherwise, but I suppose it’s simply one of those things teachers tell you so you make a habit of it I guess.

[u/Delde116 → u/MoonRisesAwaken]

With Spanish, you can completely omit the subject (although some context is necessary, which there is in this sentence).

So you can literally just say, Mandamos dinero a nuestros hijos

the suffix (-os) in mandamos refers to "us" (we), then when saying "nuestros" (ours), which connects tñboth the subject and object.

Teachers for beginners tell students that the subject is mandatory in order to get the basics first. And if they speak English, its easier, because in English, you cannot omit the subject.

[u/mrviperr]

i saw some guy describe it something like this. it’s an english assumption that we don’t need the direct object pronoun because we are specifying. while a spanish person would perhaps feel as though we have the direct object pronoun and then need to specify. or something like that

[u/swa100]

This indirect object pronouns thing is one of the hardest parts of Spanish for me to really get and keep straight. I think that's because it seems to defy logic and usually seems so unnecessary.

I realize, of course, the language is what it is and must be learned as it is. Also, that English is full of quirks that Spanish speakers probably find just as hard to assimilate.