Your Guide to The Direct Object in Spanish "Objeto Directo"

The direct object is a noun phrase or thing that is the recipient of the action.

My dad grilled the steak.
Tomas calls his brother everyday.
They eat dinner.

In the first and third example the direct object is a thing, object or idea. In the second, the direct object is a person.

When the direct object is a thing, object or idea it can be replaced by the following pronouns:

Sentence	Direct object	Pronoun	Replaced direct object	Translation
Yo cocino el pollo.	el pollo	lo	Yo lo cocino.	I cook it (the chicken).
Yo quiero la carne.	la carne	la	Yo la quiero.	I want it (the meat).
Yo como los huevos.	los huevos	los	Yo los como.	I eat them (the eggs).
Yo compro las frutas.	las frutas	las	Yo las* compro.*	I buy them (the fruit).

Notice that the pronoun replacing the direct object goes between the subject of the sentence and the verb.

When the direct object is a person or an animal that you feel attachment for it can be replaced by the following pronuouns:

Direct Object	Pronoun	Replaced direct object	Translation
yo	me	Yo me quiero (a mí).	I like myself.
vos	te	Yo te aprecio (a vos).	I appreciate you.
él/ ella	lo/ la	Yo lo/ la* respeto (a él/ a ella).*	I respect him/ her.
nosotros/ nosotras	nos	Yo nos* cuido (a nosotros).*	I take care of us.
ustedes	los/ las	Yo los/ las* amo (a ustedes).*	I love you guys.
ellos/ ellas	los/ las	Yo los/ las* odio (a ellos/ ellas).*	I hate them.

The words you see between parenthesis are the pronouns that are being replaced that can be included or not. That is to say, you can replace the direct object with a pronoun and leave it like that or you can also include the direct object for emphasis.

Notice that when the direct object is a person it is preceded by the preposition “a.” Interestingly enough, this preposition has no English transition.

Romina llama a su mamá.
Romina calls her mom.

As English Speakers, we tend to see the impersonal “a” as unnecessary, but from the perspective of a Spanish speaker it is required.

As we have seen before, the personal “a” is not used when the direct object (receiver of the action in the sentence) is an object, thing or idea.

Él come la torta. (comer)
He eats the cake. – Cake is not an animal or a person.

To summarize:

SUBJECT + VERB + DIRECT OBJECT (that is a thing, object or idea)

SUBJECT + VERB + A + DIRECT OBJECT (that is a person or animal)

Seeing as this Spanish grammatical structure has no equivalent in English, it is understandably difficult for students to struggle to use the personal “a”. It is common for them to forget to use it until a pattern has been established and it has been ingrained in their brain.