español · A2 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Phones and technology
Send, charge, download, and navigate everyday digital life.
Understand the choice
Handle everyday digital tasks: unlock a device, remember a password, send a message or file, follow a link, charge the phone, and download something. Notice which actions take a recipient pronoun and which take a direct object.
Core rule: An indirect-object pronoun identifies the recipient; por introduces the channel used.
Notice it in context
Te envío el archivo por correo electrónico.
I am sending you the file by email.
An indirect-object pronoun identifies the recipient; por introduces the channel used.
No recuerdo mi contraseña.
I do not remember my password.
No precedes the conjugated verb.
Necesito cargar el móvil.
I need to charge my phone.
Necesitar is followed by an infinitive.
What to remember
- Correo electrónico can mean email as a system or an individual email; mensaje is the safer word for a short message.
- Cargar means to charge a battery and also to load or carry, so the object is essential.
Common trap: Do not use realizar for downloading or uploading. Use descargar for download and subir for upload in ordinary digital Spanish.