in referring to parts of the body or clothing: le toque la mano, I touched his hand. See 282. 269.

(u) When there are both an indirect and a direct object pronoun with a verb, and the direct object is first or second person, the indirect object must be expressed in the prepositional form with a : Vd. me presenta a el, you introduce me to him. Vd. me lo presenta would mean you introduce him to me. See 251. 270.

Direct object (accusative).

1. The same rules that govern the position of indirect object pronouns apply to the direct object forms. See 250-260, 263. 271.

2. Le or lo may be used for the direct object masculine. The best usage requires le to denote a male person and lo a masculine thing. There is, however, considerable variation on this score, some preferring just the opposite usage, and others using one or the other indiscriminately: le or lo vi, I saw him. 272.

3. Similarly, le or lo, corresponding to the subject Vd., which is third person in form, may express you, masculine singular, polite: le or lo vi (a Vd.), I saw you. 273.

4. Los is the more common form for the masculine plural, though les is also used,

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especially when meaning you: los or les vi, I saw you (or them). 274.

5. La and las may mean not only it or her, and them respectively, but also you, singular and plural feminine: la vi, I saw her, it, or you; las vi, I saw them or you. 275.

6. A redundant construction used for clarification is not so common with direct object pronouns as with indirect objects. It is frequent, however, in the case of third person forms referring to persons: lo vi a el, I saw him; les vi a Vds., I saw you. For emphasis it is frequent in any person: me viO a mi, he saw me, me he saw. 276.

7. The neuter lo is often used with ser (also with estar) as predicate nominative to repeat a previously used predicate adjective or noun. It does not matter whether the noun or adjective be singular or plural, masculine or feminine; lo represents it in every case and is frequently untranslatable into English: z son Vds. amigos ? Si, lo somos, are you friends? Yes, we are (so); son tan ricas como lo fueron sus tias, they are as rich as their aunts were (so); esti Vd. cansado ? si, lo estoy, are you tired? Yes, I am. 277.

8. The impersonal verb haber, for there to be, may take a pronoun object, sometimes untranslatable: z hay agua ? Si la hay, is