Learn Spanish (Latin America): Él compra los zapatos y los usa.

Él compra los zapatos y los usa.

He buys the shoes and uses them.

Breakdown of Él compra los zapatos y los usa.

Questions & Answers about Él compra los zapatos y los usa.

Why is the word los used twice in this sentence?

It does two different jobs! The first los is in los zapatos, where it means "the" (the plural masculine word for "the"). The second los is in los usa, where it is a direct object pronoun meaning "them" (referring back to the shoes).

Why is it los usa instead of usa los?

In English, we say the verb first and then the object ("uses them"). In Spanish, direct object pronouns like los are placed right before the conjugated verb. So instead of "uses them", the Spanish phrasing is like "them uses" (los usa).

Why does Él have an accent mark on the E?

The accent mark distinguishes él (meaning "he") from el (meaning "the", like in el zapato). They sound exactly the same when spoken, so the written accent mark helps us know this is the person "he".

Why do both verbs end in "-a" (compra, usa)?

The word Él (he) tells us who starts the sentence. Both verbs, comprar (to buy) and usar (to use), are regular verbs that end in "-ar". To match "he", we drop the "-ar" and add "-a", giving us compra and usa. Since Spanish links the actions with y (and), the "he" applies to both verbs!