# ¿Qué la está preguntando María? (la, indirect object pronoun)



## Ms Missy

Greetings!  I have a question about the following passage which describes a scene where one woman is asking a question of another woman:

Esta mujer esta vecina de Juan Osario.  ¿Qué la está preguntando María?

Question: Is it necessary to use the direct object pronoun in the question part, or would it be okay to just say:  ¿Qué esta preguntando Maria?

Thanks


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## Outsider

It depends on what you mean by "necessary". With _la_, the sentence means "What is María asking her?" Without it, it means "What is María asking?"

Incidentally, that _la_ seems like a _laísmo_ to me.


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## Ms Missy

Outsider said:


> It depends on what you mean by "necessary". With _la_, the sentence means "What is María asking her?" Without it, it means "What is María asking?"
> 
> *Incidentally, that la seems like a laísmo to me.*


 
So are you saying that it should be, ¿Qué le está preguntando María?

Thanks again!


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## Outsider

According to standard grammar, I believe so. However, I am not 100% certain, since I am not a native speaker, and these _la/e/oísmos_ can get very tricky.


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## Ynez

From a different point of view (I could not argue about grammar here) I can tell you the same as Outsider. I'd express that sentence as:

¿Qué le está preguntando María?

Also: Esta (quizás mejor Esa?) mujer es una vecina de Juan Osario.

And it is nice you included two sentences, but the first and the second one don't seem to have any relation, or I can't get the relation at least.

Hmm...maybe the idea is: ¿Qué le está preguntado a María?

If you are not clear about it, try it to express it in more detail please


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## heidita

Ms Missy said:


> Esta mujer es vecina de Juan Osario. ¿Qué le está preguntando María?


 
Your sentence means: What is María asking her(the other woman)?

Qué: complemento directo

está preguntando: verbo

le: complemento indirecto

María: sujeto

*O sea: María está preguntando algo a alguien.*

¿Qué le está preguntando a María?

Qué: complemento directo

está preguntando: verbo

Le: complemento de María (la palabra técnica no me la sé)

a María: complemento indirecto

sujeto: elíptico

*O sea: Alguien está preguntando algo a María.*


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## Ms Missy

Ynez said:


> From a different point of view (I could not argue about grammar here) I can tell you the same as Outsider. I'd express that sentence as:
> 
> ¿Qué le está preguntando María?
> 
> Also: Esta (quizás mejor Esa?) mujer es una vecina de Juan Osario.
> 
> *And it is nice you included two sentences, but the first and the second one don't seem to have any relation, or I can't get the relation at least.*


 
This was one of those fill in the blank multiple choice questions that came from a quiz I took earlier today.  I think their purpose for mentioning 'una vecina' and Juan Osario was to throw us off, since we were supposed to fill in the blank with lo, la, le, or none of the above.  I chose la, so I guess I got that one wrong!


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## Outsider

The point of the first sentence is to give you some context. There's a woman who is Juan Osorio's neighbour -- what is María asking her?

If the incomplete sentence just said "What is María asking ____" wouldn't you be a little lost?


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## Ynez

I'm afraid to confirm it's wrong. Either of the two possibilities we've been considering would be "le":

¿Qué le está preguntando María? (María is asking something to someone)

¿Qué le está preguntando a María? (María is being asked some question)


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## Ms Missy

*Re: le: complemento indirecto*

Thanks Heidita (and everyone else).  I guess my problem was that I didn't realize that 'le' is being used as an indirect object pronoun.  I'm just now recalling that the IOD tells 'to whom' or 'for whom' something is done.  

One more question ... is that supposed to be 'es' instead of 'esta?'  I'm pretty sure that on the quiz it was 'esta.'  (unless I'm remembering wrong)


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## Ynez

If the sentence in the exam was clear, it should be something like this:

Esa mujer es (una) vecina de Juan Osorio. ¿Qué_____ está preguntando a María?


You are expected to write: LE


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## Outsider

Ms Missy said:


> *Re: le: complemento indirecto*
> 
> Thanks Heidita (and everyone else).  I guess my problem was that I didn't realize that 'le' is being used as an indirect object pronoun.  I'm just now recalling that the IOD tells 'to whom' or 'for whom' something is done.


It can be difficult to memorize these things, but remember that you can ask _something_ to _someone_. So the "someone" is always an indirect object, even when no "something" is explicitly mentioned (though, as Heidita wrote, technically _qué_ stands for the "something").



Ms Missy said:


> One more question ... is that supposed to be 'es' instead of 'esta?'


Absolutely. Being someone's neighbour is considered an essential characteristic, not a state.


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## Outsider

Ynez said:


> If the sentence in the exam was clear, it should be something like this:
> 
> Esa mujer es (una) vecina de Juan Osorio. ¿Qué_____ está preguntando a María?


Ynez, María es la que pregunta, no la "preguntada".


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## Ynez

es



a veces se utiliza "vecino" como adjetivo, pero es un uso extraño, así que quizás mejor te quedas con la idea de "vecino/a = neighbour", que te resultará más sencillo


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## Ynez

Outsider said:


> Ynez, María es la que pregunta, no la "preguntada".




Yo creo que Ms Missy no se acuerda al cien por cien de cómo era la pregunta del examen, así que ya que hemos aclarado lo de "le", yo he propuesto la que me ha parecido más oportuna


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## Ms Missy

*Re: It can be difficult to memorize these things, but remember that you can ask something to someone. So the "someone" is always an indirect object, even when no "something" is explicitly mentioned (though, as Heidita wrote, technically qué stands for the "something").*

This also serves as a good clarifier for me because I didn't know that in a Spanish sentence structure, a question is considered as being addressed 'to' someone. That's why it never occured to me that 'le' would fit in there.

All of your responses have been very helpful, and I appreciate your patience in helping me to get a better understanding of the difference in usage between the direct object pronouns, and the indirect object pronouns.

Muchas gracias!


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## Outsider

Ms Missy said:


> This also serves as a good clarifier for me because I didn't know that in a Spanish sentence structure, a question is considered as being addressed 'to' someone. That's why it never occured to me that 'le' would fit in there.


More precisely (to avoid any misunderstanding) the act of asking a question (_preguntar_) is considered as being addressed to someone, even if just implicitly.

This is also valid for the act of "asking" for a request (_pedir_).


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## Ms Missy

Outsider, is there a 'quick answer to the difference between preguntar and preguntarse?  Is the verb as used in the context of this thread, preguntar or preguntarse?

Thanks


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## Ynez

preguntarse = to wonder

Me pregunto si será verdad = I wonder if it's true


But there are many uses of "se" in Spanish. So I remembered now another possibility of what you may be trying to find out:

Nunca se pregunta nada a la gente que no conoces = One should never ask any question to strangers

If you are thinking of some different idea, tell us


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## Outsider

_Preguntar_ = to ask
_Preguntarse_ = to ask oneself, that is, to wonder

P.S. Ynez beat me to it.


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## Ms Missy

*Re: Preguntar = to ask
Preguntarse = to ask oneself, that is, to wonder*
*......................*

So would "Ask him to remove his hat"  be ...

Le pregunte que quita su sombrero(?) I'm not sure of the subjunctive usage, but I mainly want to know if the 'le' part is correct.


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## Outsider

Ms Missy said:


> So would "Ask him to remove his hat"  be ...
> 
> Le pregunte que quita su sombrero(?)


That's a request-ask, not a question-ask. 

Le pedí que quitara su sombrero.


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## mgwls

Ms Missy said:


> So would "Ask him to remove his hat"  be ...



I think that would be more like: "pídele que se quite su sombrero" but "pídele que se quite el sombrero" sounds better.


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## Ms Missy

Outsider said:


> That's a request-ask, not a question-ask.
> 
> Le *pedí* que quitara su sombrero.


 
Okay, you answered my question about the use of 'le' just fine, so I think I'd better quit while I'm ahead because now I'm wondering why you used the preterite tense *(**pedí)* in your sentence. But I'd better leave that for another day and another thread.  I don't want to get too far off track from the original topic of the thread.

mil gracias!


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## Ms Missy

mgwls said:


> I think that would be more like: "pídele que se quite su sombrero" but "pídele que se quite el sombrero" sounds better.


 
I didn't see this one until I had already responded to Outsider's, so I really appreciate this response.  I was really curious about his use of the preterite, but was afraid that the moderators would feel that I was asking too many additional questions that were unrelated to my original inquiry.  So at any rate, I'm glad I was able to 'sneak' that one in!!!


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## Ivy29

Ms Missy said:


> Okay, you answered my question about the use of 'le' just fine, so I think I'd better quit while I'm ahead because now I'm wondering why you used the preterite tense *(**pedí)* in your sentence. But I'd better leave that for another day and another thread. I don't want to get too far off track from the original topic of the thread.
> 
> mil gracias!


 

*Le pedí que se quitara el sombrero.*

*Ivy29*


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## Pedro P. Calvo Morcillo

Ms Missy said:


> (...) now I'm wondering why you used the preterite tense *(**pedí)* in your sentence.


That's because you used "Le pregunte..." and he has interpreted you really meant "Le pregunt*é*...".


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## Pedro P. Calvo Morcillo

heidita said:


> *O sea: María está preguntando algo a alguien.*
> 
> ¿Qué le está preguntando a María?
> 
> Qué: complemento directo
> 
> está preguntando: verbo
> 
> Le: complemento de María (la palabra técnica no me la sé)
> 
> a María: complemento indirecto
> 
> sujeto: elíptico


Hola:

"Le" ahí sigue siendo un complemento indirecto. La duplicación del complemento indirecto a través del pronombre átono es siempre posible.

Un saludete.

Pedro.


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## heidita

Outsider said:


> Le pedí que quitara su sombrero.


 


Ivy29 said:


> *Le pedí que se quitara el sombrero.*
> 
> *Ivy29*


 
Ousider y Missy, faltaba se, como lo ha puesto Ivy.



Pedro P. Calvo Morcillo said:


> "Le" ahí sigue siendo un complemento indirecto. La duplicación del complemento indirecto a través del pronombre átono es siempre posible.


 
¡¡Ya llegó el listo!!

En efecto, complemento indirecto. Pensé que técnicamente se llamaba de otra forma. La duplicidad del complemento indirecto no se posible en ningún idioma conocido por mí. Así que, Missy, no te desesperes.


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