Quick answer
me · te · le · nos · os · les
The person who receives something. Spanish usually names them twice: once with the pronoun, once with a phrase.
The forms
| Person | Pronoun |
|---|---|
| to me | me |
| to you (tú) | te |
| to him / her / usted | le |
| to us | nos |
| to you (vosotros) | os |
| to them / ustedes | les |
Only the third person differs from the direct object set, where you would use lo and la.
The doubling
Naming the person does not remove the pronoun. Both appear.
To English ears "Le doy… a Marta" sounds like saying it twice. In Spanish, leaving out the le is the mistake.
le becomes se
When an indirect le or les meets a direct lo, la, los or las, the le turns into se. Spanish avoids two l-pronouns in a row.
Order is fixed: indirect first, then direct.
Memory trick
If you can insert "to" or "for" in front of the person in English, the Spanish pronoun is le or les — and it stays even when you name them.
Typical mistakes
Doy el libro a Marta.
Le doy el libro a Marta.
Spanish keeps the pronoun alongside the named person. Dropping it sounds incomplete.
Le lo doy.
Se lo doy.
Two pronouns starting with l cannot stand together; le becomes se.
Lo doy a mi hermana el regalo.
Le doy el regalo a mi hermana.
The recipient takes an indirect pronoun, not lo.
Check yourself
___ escribo un correo a mis colegas.