4 Ways To Say “It” in Spanish

It is one of the most common English words, but its direct equivalent in Spanish, ello, isnt used much. Thats mostly because Spanish has other ways of saying it—or not stating it at all. This lesson looks at translations for it in four situations, depending on how it is used in relation to the other words in a sentence: as the subject of a sentence, as the direct object of a verb, as an indirect object of a verb, and as the object of a preposition. Saying ‘It’ in Spanish as the Subject of a Sentence Because it has an extensive verb conjugation, Spanish is able to frequently omit the subjects of sentences entirely, depending on the context to make clear what the subject is. When the subject of a sentence is inanimate, something that would be referred to as it, it is very unusual in Spanish to use a subject at all:  ¿Dà ³nde està ¡ el telà ©fono? Està ¡ aquà ­. (Where is the telephone? It is here. Note how in this and the following sentences that there is no Spanish word given to translate it.)Està ¡ roto. (It is broken.)Hoy comprà © una computadora portà ¡til. Es muy cara. (Today I bought a laptop computer. It is very expensive.)No me gusta esta cancià ³n. Es muy rencorosa. (I dont like this song. Its full of resentment.) It is possible to use ello as the subject when referring a concept or abstraction rather a specific noun, but such use sometimes comes across as old-fashioned. It is much more common to use the neuter pronoun eso, which literally means that, or esto, this. In all these examples, it would more common either to delete ello or use eso or esto: Ello no es posible ni concebido. (It is neither possible nor conceivable.)Ello puede explicarse con facilidad. (It can be explained easily.)Ello era la razà ³n por el desastre. (That was the reason for the disaster.) In English, it is common to use it as the subject of a sentence in a vague sense, such as when talking about the weather: It is raining. It can also be used when talking about a situation: It is dangerous. Such as use of it in English is sometimes referred to as a dummy subject. In translation to Spanish, dummy subjects are nearly always omitted. Llueve. (It is raining.)Nieva. (It is snowing.)Es peligroso. (It is dangerous.)Es muy comà ºn encontrar vendedores en la playa. (It is very common to find vendors on the beach.)Puede pasar. (It can happen.) Saying ‘It’ in Spanish as the Direct Object of a Verb As the direct object of a verb, the translation of it varies with gender. Use lo when the pronoun it refers to a masculine noun or la when it refers to a feminine noun.  ¿Viste el coche? No lo vi. (Did you see the car? I didnt see it. Lo is used because coche is masculine.) ¿Viste la camisa? No la vi. (Did you see the shirt? I didnt see it. La is used because camisa is feminine.)No me gusta esta hamburguesa, pero voy a comerla. (I dont like this hamburger, but Im going to eat it.)Antonio me comprà ³ un anillo.  ¡Mà ­ralo!  (Antonio bought me a ring. Look at it!) ¿Tienes la llave? No la tengo. (Do you have the key? I dont have it.) If you dont know what it refers to, or if it refers to something abstract, use the masculine form, which technically is a neuter form in this usage: Vi algo.  ¿Lo viste? (I saw something. Did you see it?)No lo sà ©. (I dont know it.) Saying ‘It’ in Spanish as an Indirect Object It is unusual in Spanish for an indirect object to be an inanimate object, but when it is use le: Dà ©le un golpe con la mano. (Give it a hit with your hand.)Brà ­ndale la oportunidad. (Give it a chance.) Saying ‘It’ in Spanish as the Object of Preposition Here again, gender makes a difference. If the prepositional object refers to a noun thats masculine, use à ©l; if you are referring to a noun thats feminine, use ella. As objects of pronouns, these words can also mean him and her, in addition to it, so you need to let the context determine what is meant. El coche està ¡ roto. Necesito un repuesto  para à ©l. (The car is broken. I need a part  for it.)Me gusta mucho mi bicicleta. No puedo vivir sin ella. (I like my bicycle a lot. I cant live without it.)El examen fue muy difà ­cil. A causa de à ©l, no aprobà ©. (The test was very difficult. Because of it, I didnt pass.)Habà ­a muchas muertes antes de la guerra civil y durante ella. (There were many deaths before the civil war and during it.) When the object of a preposition refers to a general condition or something without a name, you can use the neuter pronoun for it, ello. It is also very common to use the neuter pronoun eso, which literally means that or esto, this. Mi novia me odia. No quiero hablar de ello. (My girlfriend hates me. I dont want to talk about it. More common would be: No quiera hablar de eso/esto.)No te preocupes por ello. (Dont worry about it. More common would be: No te preocupes for eso/esto.)Pensarà © en ello. (I will think about it. More common would be: Pensarà © en eso/esto.) Key Takeaways Although Spanish has a word for it, ello, that word is uncommon and can only be used as a subject pronoun or the object of a preposition under some circumstances.When it is the subject of an English sentence, the word typically is omitted in translation to Spanish.As the object of a preposition, it is typically translated to Spanish using à ©l or ella, which as objects are usually the words for him and her, respectively.