Ch 48 · Lesson 18Spanish · Chapter 48 · Lesson 18 · Grammar primer
Leísmo and dequeísmo: what the standard accepts
for I saw him is accepted in Spain, for her is not; and the for : , but .
The short version
Juan .
Why?Hide
In central and northern Spain many say for I saw him, and the accepts it for a male person, beside the . It does not accept for a woman ( ) or for a thing ( ). And never put before where would take none: , not .
Leísmo: le for lo
In central and northern Spain, many speakers use , not , for "him" as a direct object. The accepts this for a male person, so both are correct:
Juan .- I saw Juan yesterday. (everywhere)Juan .- I saw Juan yesterday. (Spain, accepted)
It does not accept for a woman or for a thing:
| Object | Accepted | Not accepted |
|---|---|---|
| a man | , | none |
| a woman | | |
| a thing | |
The mirror image, laísmo, is for an indirect object to a woman: " " for (I told her the truth). It is common in Madrid, and not accepted.
Dequeísmo and queísmo
Dequeísmo adds a that does not belong before ; queísmo drops one that does. Both are heard everywhere and both count as errors. The test: swap the clause for . If needs , so does .
| Verb | Test | Correct |
|---|---|---|
| | . |
| | . |
| . | |
| | . |
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| tienés | | forms have no stem change |
| : | |
| the possessive stays | |
| (to ) | | after a preposition, |
| standard takes the they form | |
| A María . | María . | for a woman: not accepted |
| ... | ... | dequeísmo: |
Going further: Regional grammar at a glance and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
10-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
Spanish · Free printables
Worksheets for this lesson
Worksheets with answer keys built in. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekLesson 18 of 27 in this chapter