Indirect Object Pronouns by Sandra Rosenstiel
Some countries like Spain and Argentina are famous for their gorgeous leather footwear, and one might spend more on shoes and boots than on clothing. Other places, shoes are less of a fashion statement and play a more practical role. Take a look at your footwear collection and make a list of the different types you own. Then see how many of the following items appear on your list.
los zapatos (shoes)
las botas (boots)
las sandalias (sandals)
los tacones (high heels)
los botines (short boots)
las zapatillas (slippers, sneakers)
las chanclas (flipflops, sandals)
las pantuflas (fluffy slippers)
los tenis (tennis shoes)
The generic term for footwear in Spanish is calzado, but a shoe store is called a zapatería. However, many shoe stores use the word calzado to refer to their merchandise rather than the word zapatos.
Specialty shoes and boots are named according to the activity they are used for, for example: zapatos de fútbol (soccer shoes), zapatos de golf (golf shoes), botas de trabajo (work boots), and botas de montaña (hiking boots). And, in case you're wondering, Cinderella's glass slippers were zapatillas de cristal!
Using Indirect Object Pronouns
Trying on shoes will give you the opportunity to practice indirect object pronouns a little more. You use them with gustar and encantar, for example, to say that you like a pair of shoes: Me encantan estos zapatos. You also use indirect object pronouns with the verbs quedar and andar to talk about how shoes or boots fit: Las botas me quedan grandes pero los tacones me andan muy bien. You can use the verb molestar to say that something about a shoe bothers your foot, or the expression hacer daño to say that shoes hurt:
Me molestan los tacones.
(The heels bother me.)
Los zapatos elegantes siempre me hacen daño.
(Elegant shoes always hurt me.)
Use the verb apretar (e > ie) with indirect object pronouns to say that a shoe pinches you: Estas botas me aprietan los dedos (These boots pinch my toes). And use the verb doler (o > ue) to say your feet hurt: Me duelen los pies.
The Perfect Shoes
Shoe sizes are usually referred to as números, and the salesperson will ask you something like ¿Qué número calza? or ¿Qué número lleva? (What size do you wear?). If you're not sure how sizes run in the country you're in, ask the salesperson to measure your foot: ¿Puede medirme el piessssssss, por favor? Notice that you are using an indirect object pronoun again.
To refer to your size in clothing, use talla, but use número to talk about shoe size. To refer to the size of most other things, use tamaño, for example, … el tamaño de una casa (… the size of a house).
So, what do you think, ¿Qué le parece?, asks the salesperson. If you're lucky, te quedan perfectos y te encantan. On the other hand, you may discover, much to your dismay, that those perfect shoes don't fit. The size is right, but they seem too wide; the toe pinches; they're too stiff; the arch is in the wrong place. The reality is that shoes are made very differently from country to country. You may be able to bring home a suitcase full of fabulous footwear bargains from your trip to Spain or Argentina, or you may end up with nothing but your worn-out sneakers.
