Log inSign up

El abuelo les cuenta un cuento a los niños.

El abuelo les cuenta un cuento a los niños.
The grandfather tells the children a story.
From Lesson 79:Indirect object pronouns·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El abuelo les cuenta un cuento a los niños.

Why do we need both les and a los niños in this sentence?
In Spanish, it is very common and usually required to use an indirect object pronoun like les (to them) even when you also state exactly who is receiving the action (a los niños). Think of les as a marker pointing to the receiver, and a los niños as the clarification of who they are.
Why is it les and not los?
We use les because the children are the indirect object of the sentence, meaning they are the ones receiving the story. The direct object, which is the thing actually being told, is the story (un cuento). In Spanish, we always use le or les for indirect objects.
What is the difference between cuenta and cuento?
They look similar but have different jobs here! Cuenta is the verb, coming from contar (to tell or to count), conjugated for the grandfather. Cuento is a noun meaning a story or a tale. So together, cuenta un cuento translates to he tells a story.
Why does the verb contar change to cuenta?
Contar is a stem-changing verb. When you conjugate it for he, she, or it, the o in the stem changes to ue. Other common verbs you have seen that do this include poder (puede) and dormir (duerme).

Learn El abuelo les cuenta un cuento a los niños and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →