# Paraguayan leísmo: le for everyone

> id: regional.py.leismo · category: regional · depth: standard · levels: B1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Paraguayan Spanish uses le as a general direct-object pronoun for people regardless of gender/number (le vi a María), influenced by Guaraní's single object marker.

Paraguayan Spanish uses le as a general direct-object pronoun for people regardless of gender and number, influenced by Guaraní's single object marker: le vi (I saw him/her), les llevé (I took them). This 'leísmo generalizado' is broader than Spain's animate-masculine leísmo.

You'll hear le where other dialects use lo or la: le quiero mucho (a ella), ya le saludé. It's a stable regional norm rather than an error, though formal writing may revert to lo/la.

Beyond generalized le, Paraguayan Spanish often drops the object pronoun entirely — another Guaraní calque — so the answer to ¿trajiste el pan? is simply sí, traje, with no lo. You'll also hear number mismatches (les dije a él). Both patterns are stable vernacular norms, though careful writing restores lo/la and the pronoun.

## Examples
- Ayer le vi a María. — I saw María yesterday. *(le for a feminine direct object.)*
- A los chicos ya les llevé al colegio. — I already took the kids to school.
- —¿Trajiste la plata? —Sí, traje. — —Did you bring the money? —Yes, I brought (it). *(Object pronoun dropped, calqued from Guaraní.)*

Related: regional.py.guarani-influence, regional.py.voseo

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