Breakdown of Ellos le muestran la foto al profesor.
el profesor
teacher
ellos
they
la foto
the photo
al
to the
le
to him / to her / to you (formal)
mostrar
to show
Questions & Answers about Ellos le muestran la foto al profesor.
Why do we need le if the sentence already says al profesor?
In Spanish, it is a standard rule to use the indirect object pronoun (le) even when you explicitly state who is receiving the action (al profesor). Think of le as a required marker that points to the receiver, while al profesor simply clarifies exactly who that receiver is.
Why is the word al used instead of a el?
Whenever the preposition a (to) is followed immediately by the masculine article el (the), they must combine to form the contraction al. So, instead of saying a el profesor, you always say al profesor.
Where does the ue in muestran come from?
It comes from a stem change. The infinitive of the verb is mostrar (to show). In the present tense, the vowel o changes to ue for most subjects, including the they form (ellos). This is why it becomes muestran.
Could I put le after the verb, like Ellos muestran le la foto?
No, because muestran is a conjugated verb. In Spanish, object pronouns like le must go directly before a normal conjugated verb. You can generally only attach pronouns to the end of infinitives (the unconjugated dictionary form), commands, or words ending in -ndo.
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