teach · Spanish (enseñar) — Event-Structure Dictionary

Arguments

Teacher, Learner, Content · dative Learner when the Content is a noun · Spanish cloth · working claim, revisable

Voice[Teacher] + low Appl(Learner) + complement of the root (Content)

enseñar · Learner_DAT (le / les, a + DP) · Content_ACC

Content unexpressed · the DPD keeps the person indirect · les enseñan bien

enseñar a + infinitive · person indirect (majority, le) or direct (minority, lo / la) · both valid in the DPD

A teaching, on this reading, has a Teacher, a Learner, and a Content. They are not three equal sisters of one flat verb. Voice adds the Teacher. Low Appl introduces the Learner. The root’s complement is the Content: a noun phrase, or, where the DPD prints one, an a-marked infinitive. The DLE’s sense 1 is transitive, Instruir, doctrinar, amaestrar con reglas o preceptos, and lists aprender as the antonym. The DLE article that was served prints no clause.

What is different from the English gloss. English teach someone something is two bare objects. The DPD’s nominal frame is not that. When enseñar means ‘mostrar [algo]’ and when it means ‘hacer que alguien aprenda [algo]’, it is transitive, the direct object is what is shown or taught, and it usually also takes an indirect object of person. The printed doubling is Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones. The printed teaching clitic pair is no te lo enseñan: te is the person, lo is the Content. A clause with two bare objects and no a and no dative clitic is unprinted.

When the Content is absent. The DPD says that, on the teaching sense, the direct object is often unexpressed, and that the person, if there is one, sigue siendo indirecto. The line is les enseñan bien. That is not a direct object lo / la. The DPD entry does not use the word leísmo for this clause, and the DPD article leísmo does not name enseñar.

a + infinitive, and a que. The DPD’s second section is enseñar a + infinitive: ‘hacer que alguien aprenda a hacer lo que el infinitivo expresa’. The person may be considered indirect (majority) or direct (minority, also valid): le enseñó a hacer el amor, lo enseñó a leer. A RAE linguistic query prints the same split with a feminine direct clitic: le enseña a luchar, la enseña a luchar. The DPD does not call the le variant leísmo. An a que + subjunctive clause is unprinted on enseñar in that entry. The DPD does print a que + subjunctive on the learner-side verb aprender, for the skill sense. That frame is not copied onto enseñar.

The mostrar sense. DLE sense 4 is Mostrar o exponer algo, para que sea visto y apreciado, with the synonym mostrar. The DPD puts ‘mostrar [algo]’ in the same transitive cloth as the teaching sense: direct object of the thing, usually an indirect object of person. The Vergés line, rincones, is that display reading. It is not a teaching. German beibringen has no display sense on that page. German lehren’s off-frame “show” there is die Geschichte lehrt, dass …, a clause, not a thing shown to a person. Do not map every enseñar to teach, and do not map this display frame onto that German dass-clause.

Against German. beibringen is dative Learner + accusative Content, the same case frame as this nominal enseñar. lehren’s active norm is two accusatives. That double accusative is not the DPD’s nominal frame. unterrichten is an accusative Learner and in+dative of the subject. Spanish instruir is the nearer cloth for a discipline in en or sobre, and the person in the DPD’s lo instruyó line is the direct object.

Places · who wears which marking

The DPD does not stack a named Teacher, a full-DP Learner, and a nominal Content in one teaching clause. Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones is the display reading, and it is the line that prints le together with a + a name. no te lo enseñan is the teaching line that prints both clitics. The full teaching clause with a name is constructed on those two lines.

Printed teaching frame · indirect person · accusative Content

✓ Eso que tienes que aprender no te lo enseñan en la universidad DPD · enseñar §1 · TBallester Filomeno es 1988 · te indirect · lo the Content

that which you have to learn, they do not teach it to you at university

Printed frame · Content unexpressed · person stays indirect

✓ El colegio a donde van es bueno, les enseñan bien DPD · enseñar §1 · Andrade Dios ar 1993 · the DPD’s words are sigue siendo indirecto

the school they go to is good; they teach them well

Printed a + infinitive · indirect, and direct

✓ Toño la condujo bajo los álamos y allí […] le enseñó a hacer el amor DPD §2 · Donoso Elefantes cl 1995 · majority, indirect · the brackets are the entry’s ellipsis

✓ lo enseñó a leer DPD §2 · GaMárquez Amor co 1985 · minority, direct, also valid

taught him to make love · taught him to read

Places of Spanish enseñar: introducer, marking, case status, English and German marking
Place	Introduced by (working)	Spanish marking	Case status	English and German marking
Teacher	Spec,Voice	nominative subject of enseñar	structural subject · DLE paradigm enseño, enseñó, ha enseñado · regular -ar	subject of teach · subject of lehren, beibringen, and unterrichten
Learner · nominal Content	low Appl	dative · le / les · a + DP in the Vergés line, doubled by le · te beside lo in the Ballester line	indirect object · the DPD’s word is complemento indirecto de persona · not a second accusative in this frame · a full DP with no clitic is unprinted in the lines read	bare object of teach someone something · dative of beibringen · accusative of lehren in the active norm, with a dative also printed
Learner · Content unexpressed	low Appl	les in les enseñan bien	the DPD: the person stays indirect · a direct lo / la of the person, with no Content and no infinitive, is unprinted	bare object of teach them · accusative of the person alone on lehren, in the Sprachratgeber
Learner · a + infinitive	low Appl	indirect le (majority) · direct lo (DPD) or la (RAE query)	both analyses are printed · the DPD calls the direct one minority and also valid · the entry does not use the word leísmo	accusative Learner of jemanden schwimmen lehren · dative Learner of jemandem … beibringen with a nominalized infinitive or a zu-clause
Content · noun	complement of the root	accusative · lo in te lo enseñan · rincones on the display line	structural direct object · the DPD: the direct object expresses what is shown or taught	bare object of something · accusative of lehren and of beibringen · in+dative of unterrichten when the Learner is in the clause
Content · infinitive	a + infinitive	a hacer el amor · a leer · a hablar in the instruir citation · a luchar in the RAE query	the DPD’s printed complement of this shape · a que + subjunctive is unprinted on enseñar	bare infinitive of lehren · zu-infinitive or wie-clause of beibringen
mostrar	same introducers · other sense	DLE sense 4 · DPD ‘mostrar [algo]’ · Vergés le … a Yolanda rincones	same cloth as the teaching nominal frame · the thing is displayed, not taught · not a map onto teach	unprinted as a display frame of beibringen · lehren’s off-frame show on the German page is a dass-clause

Marking map. One letter can belong to several heads. Read the head, then the marker.

Nominative of the Teacher. The subject of enseñar is the one who instructs or, on sense 4, the one who shows. The DLE table is a regular -ar verb: enseño, enseñas / enseñás, enseña, enseñó, participle enseñado, compound he enseñado. Barron’s 501 Spanish Verbs (Kendris) is the conjugation manual for that regular verb. No page of it was opened, and no sentence from it is quoted. The forms named here are the DLE table.
Dative of the Learner, doubled by le. DPD §1: an indirect object of person is usual. The Vergés line prints both the clitic and the a-phrase: Le enseñaba a Yolanda. Plural les is the Andrade line, with no Content. te lo is the Ballester order: indirect clitic, then the accusative clitic of the Content. se lo is unprinted on this entry. It is the general third-person shape, not a further argument, and it is not constructed.
Accusative of the Content. DPD: the direct object expresses what is shown or taught. lo in te lo enseñan is that object. rincones is the direct object of the display line. en + a discipline is unprinted on enseñar in the entries read. It is printed on instruir.
Person when the Content is unexpressed. DPD, teaching sense: the person stays indirect. les enseñan bien. A direct-object Learner in that gap is not what that paragraph says. It is not given the DPD’s minority-direct label. That label is only §2.
enseñar a + infinitive. DPD §2 prints both clitics and does not rank one of them out. Majority indirect: Donoso le enseñó a hacer el amor, and, in the instruir article, le enseñó a hablar correctamente. Minority direct: García Márquez lo enseñó a leer. The RAE query adds la enseña a luchar beside le enseña a luchar and points back to the DPD. a nadar is not among those infinitives. A clause with nadar below is constructed.
a que + subjunctive. Unprinted on enseñar. Printed on aprender sense 2 of the skill reading: En todo ese proceso aprendí a que me salieran ricos el ajo y la cebolla sofritos. The same article rejects a que when aprender means acquiring knowledge and the que-clause is the direct object: the corrected shape there is que with no a.
Learner side. DLE aprender sense 1 is transitive, Adquirir el conocimiento de algo por medio del estudio o de la experiencia, also intransitive, and the antonym list names enseñar. The DPD’s person from whom one learns is normally de: lo aprendí de mi madre. In American Spanish that person is also an indirect object: algo le aprendí, le había aprendido a su padre. con of a person is unprinted in that entry. The skill sense is intransitive and takes a + infinitive or a que + subjunctive.
instruir and educar. DLE instruir sense 1 is Enseñar, doctrinar. The DPD says the knowledge sense, transitive or pronominal, normally takes en or sobre of the subject: El viajero que se instruye en la geografía chilena ha de encontrar a cada paso el nombre de los Andes, Ella le enseñó a hablar correctamente y hasta lo instruyó sobre modales en la mesa. In that second line the person of instruir is the direct object lo, and the same sentence’s enseñar is le enseñó a hablar correctamente. The verb is irregular, conjugated like construir. DLE educar sense 2 prints the faculty as the object: Educar la inteligencia, la voluntad. No en-phrase of a discipline, and no dative Learner, is in the article served. Neither lemma is a page.

EN ⇄ ES valency strip

Each row lines up one English slot with a Spanish slot, and names the German slot where the case differs. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (a bare English object ↔ a Spanish dative, or ↔ an a-infinitive). Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other Spanish sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.

English–Spanish valency alignment for teach / enseñar, one row per argument
Slot	EN form	ES form	Align	EN example	ES example
Teacher	SUBJ of teach	nominative subject	=	they do not teach it to you gloss of the Ballester line	no te lo enseñan DPD · Ballester
Learner · nominal Content	bare object of teach someone something	dative le / les / te · a + DP where the Vergés line prints one	shift · one Spanish dative · the English gloss has no ending and no to in the double-object frame	teach someone something the English frame this page does not copy	te lo enseñan DPD · Le enseño español a Ana. constructed on Le … a Yolanda and on lo as Content
Learner · no Content	bare object of teach them	les	shift · the DPD keeps the person indirect	they teach them well gloss	les enseñan bien DPD · Andrade
Learner · a + infinitive	object of teach someone to …	le or lo / la	= when the DPD calls the person direct · shift when it calls the person indirect	taught him to read gloss of García Márquez	lo enseñó a leer DPD · le enseñó a hacer el amor DPD
Content · noun	bare something	accusative	=	they do not teach it to you gloss	lo DPD · Ballester
Content · infinitive	to read / to swim	a + infinitive	shift · Spanish prints a · German lehren prints a bare infinitive	teach someone to read gloss	a leer DPD · Le enseñó a nadar. constructed · nadar is not a DPD infinitive
a que + subjunctive	unprinted as a frame of teach in the glosses used here	unprinted on enseñar	no match in the enseñar entry · printed on skill-sense aprender	—	aprendí a que me salieran ricos … DPD · aprender §2 · not a frame of enseñar
German lehren double accusative	two bare objects	dative Learner + accusative Content, in the DPD’s nominal frame	the German active norm and the Spanish nominal frame diverge · beibringen is the German match	to teach sb a language Langenscheidt gloss of lehren, on the German page	jemanden etwas lehren the German page · le … español Spanish dative, not that second accusative
Two bare objects	the English double object has no case ending and no clitic	bare Learner beside an accusative Content, with no a and no le	unprinted · the printed person of the nominal frame is indirect	—	* Enseño Ana español. constructed · not a dictionary line
mostrar	not teach	DLE sense 4 · same dative + accusative cloth	sense split · do not gloss the Vergés line as teach	showed Yolanda corners gloss of the display line	Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones DPD · Vergés

The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame. The subject chip is the Teacher when the clause has one.

EN · ES · dative Learner

le … a + accusative

I teach Ana Spanish.

Le enseño español a Ana.

ES constructed · le copies a Ana · modelled on DPD Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones · español stands in the Content slot of lo

RolesHide roles LearnerContent

Learner le … a Ana Content español

Move one Spanish dative · English spells neither ending

EN · ES · a + infinitive

le or lo

he taught him to read

lo enseñó a leer

ES · DPD §2 · direct, minority, also valid · the majority line is Donoso le enseñó a hacer el amor

RolesHide roles LearnerContent

Learner lo · direct in this line Content a leer

Move the infinitive is a-marked · the person is direct here and indirect in the majority line

ES · mostrar · not teach

DLE sense 4

showed Yolanda corners

Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones que muy pocos podrían enseñarle

ES · DPD §1 · Vergés · display · same dative + accusative cloth · do not gloss it as teach

RolesHide roles PersonThing shown

Person le … a Yolanda Shown rincones

Move DLE sense 4 · German beibringen has no display sense

DE · ES · case of the Learner

beibringen = this dative

jdm etw beibringen

le … algo

DE · PONS, on the German page · dative Learner + accusative Content · ES · DPD indirect person + direct Content · lehren’s double accusative is the other German frame

RolesHide roles LearnerContent

Learner jdm · le Content etw · algo

Move English teach someone something has two bare objects · the matching pair is dative + accusative

ES · two bare objects

DAT ≠ a bare name

—

* Enseño Ana español.

ES constructed · starred · the printed person of the nominal frame is indirect

RolesHide roles LearnerContent

Learner Ana · no a, no le Content español

Move English has no to in the double object · Spanish prints an indirect person

Examples

Argument difference. English teach someone something is one gloss with two bare objects. Spanish enseñar, in the DPD’s nominal frame, puts the Learner in the dative and the Content in the accusative. German beibringen is that same case frame (jdm etw beibringen). German lehren’s active norm is two accusatives, and a dative Learner is also printed there, with labels that do not agree. German unterrichten puts the subject in in+dative beside an accusative Learner. The best case match for the Spanish nominal frame is beibringen, not the double accusative, and not the English double object. Where the Content is an a-infinitive, Spanish also prints a direct person. That minority direct lines up with lehren’s accusative Learner beside an infinitive, and the majority le lines up with beibringen’s dative.

Senses kept off the teaching frame, or flagged inside it. DLE sense 4 and the DPD’s ‘mostrar [algo]’ are the display reading. The Vergés citation is quoted so the cloth is visible, and it is not a teaching. DLE sense 2, an example or a warning that guides later action, and sense 6, pronominal enseñarse ‘acostumbrarse’, are not this frame. The judicial sense of instruir stays on the DPD’s second paragraph and is not a teaching.

Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed

Cuando significa ‘mostrar [algo]’ y ‘hacer que alguien aprenda [algo]’, es transitivo y el complemento directo expresa lo que se muestra o enseña; suele llevar, además, un complemento indirecto de persona. DPD · enseñar §1 · 2.ª edición

Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones que muy pocos podrían enseñarle DPD §1 · Vergés Cenizas do 1980 · display · le doubles a Yolanda · rincones is the direct object

Eso que tienes que aprender no te lo enseñan en la universidad DPD §1 · TBallester Filomeno es 1988 · teaching · te indirect · lo the Content

Con el segundo sentido, es frecuente que el complemento directo no esté expreso; en ese caso, el complemento de persona, si lo hay, sigue siendo indirecto · El colegio a donde van es bueno, les enseñan bien DPD §1 · Andrade Dios ar 1993

enseñar a + infinitivo. · el complemento de persona puede considerarse indirecto (uso mayoritario) o directo (minoritario, pero también válido) · Toño la condujo bajo los álamos y allí […] le enseñó a hacer el amor · Desde que lo enseñó a leer, su madre le compraba los libros DPD §2 · Donoso Elefantes cl 1995 · GaMárquez Amor co 1985 · the brackets are the entry’s ellipsis

le enseña a luchar · la enseña a luchar RAE · consultas lingüísticas · «¿Se dice la enseña a luchar o le enseña a luchar?» · the query’s examples · majority is the indirect · points to the DPD

Instruir, doctrinar, amaestrar con reglas o preceptos. · sense 4 Mostrar o exponer algo, para que sea visto y apreciado. · antonym of sense 1 aprender · paradigm enseño, enseñó, ha enseñado DLE · enseñar · the article served prints no clause

Esto también lo aprendí de mi madre · Es un viejo oficio que aprendí de mi padre · Mi padre, aparte de diplomático, era abogado; algo le aprendí · Si algo le había aprendido a su padre, que poco más le había aprendido a ese señor, era que una voz en paz daba todavía más miedo · En todo ese proceso aprendí a que me salieran ricos el ajo y la cebolla sofritos DPD · aprender · Gabás · Carabalí · Palacios · Silva · Ascunce · de is the usual person-source · the indirect person is called normal in American Spanish · a que + subjunctive is the skill sense · con of a person is unprinted

Ella le enseñó a hablar correctamente y hasta lo instruyó sobre modales en la mesa · El viajero que se instruye en la geografía chilena ha de encontrar a cada paso el nombre de los Andes DPD · instruir · Mundo · Barriga · le enseñó a hablar is enseñar · lo instruyó sobre is the other verb · en or sobre is the discipline

Educar la inteligencia, la voluntad. DLE · educar sense 2 · the object is the faculty

Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Ana continues a named indirect object of the Vergés shape. español fills the accusative Content. nadar fills the a-infinitive. María Moliner’s Diccionario de uso del español was not opened. No sentence from it is quoted.

✓ Le enseño español a Ana.

RolesHide roles TeacherLearnerContent

Teacher the subject of enseño Learner le … a Ana Content español

constructed · dative modelled on Vergés Le … a Yolanda · accusative Content modelled on Ballester lo · the Vergés thing is a display, and español is not

✓ Le enseñó a nadar.

RolesHide roles LearnerContent

Learner le Content a nadar

constructed · le + a + infinitive modelled on Donoso le enseñó a hacer el amor · nadar is not that infinitive · the direct lo / la remains the printed minority and is not starred

* Enseño Ana español.

RolesHide roles LearnerContent

Learner Ana Content español

constructed · two bare objects · the DPD’s person in the nominal frame is an indirect object

✓ no te lo enseñan DPD · Ballester · indirect person · accusative Content
✓ les enseñan bien DPD · Andrade · Content unexpressed · person stays indirect
✓ le enseñó a hacer el amor DPD · Donoso · a + infinitive · majority indirect
✓ lo enseñó a leer DPD · García Márquez · same construction · minority direct
✓ la enseña a luchar RAE query · feminine direct clitic · not called leísmo there
✓ Le enseñaba a Yolanda rincones DPD · Vergés · mostrar · not the teaching frame
✓ lo instruyó sobre modales DPD · instruir · person direct · discipline sobre
✓ lo aprendí de mi madre DPD · aprender · person-source de

Voice

No passive of the teaching frame is printed in the DLE article or in the DPD article. Nothing is constructed. se in the DPD’s El viajero que se instruye en la geografía chilena is the pronominal of instruirse, not a passive of enseñar. The DLE’s pronominal enseñarse is sense 6, ‘acostumbrarse’, and it is not this frame.

The participle in the DLE compound is enseñado (he enseñado). The DPD does not print a promotion of the Content or of the Learner. German lehren prints both promotions of its two accusatives. That German question is not opened here.

Derivations · working sketches, revisable

Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Teacher to Voice, the Learner to low Appl, and the Content to the root. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.

Voice · the Teacher is the external argument

Constructed · one external argument

[TP [enseño]
  [VoiceP Voice                     ← Teacher = Spec,Voice
    … enseñar … ]]

✓ Le enseño español a Ana. constructed

The external argument is the Teacher. English keeps one subject on teach. Spanish does not keep the Learner as a second bare object under that subject.

Low Appl · the Learner · the root takes the Content

Nominal Content · dative Learner · the direct person of a + infinitive is the other printed option, not this tree

[VoiceP Voice
  [ApplP_LOW [le … a Ana]_DAT Appl     ← Learner · indirect in the nominal frame
    [VP √enseñ-
       [Content español ]_ACC ]]]       ← Content · direct object

The a-infinitive is the other printed complement. The DPD allows the person under it to be indirect or direct.

[VoiceP Voice
  [ApplP_LOW [le]_DAT  or  [lo]_ACC Appl
    [VP √enseñ-
       [Content a nadar ]]]]            ← a + infinitive · nadar is constructed

✓ no te lo enseñan DPD · indirect + accusative

✓ lo enseñó a leer DPD · direct person · a + infinitive

* Enseño Ana español. constructed · the nominal Learner is not a bare object

English and German · one gloss, not one case frame

Working · no English teach page is opened · German is teach-de.html

[VoiceP Voice                                  ← Teacher
  [ApplP_LOW someone Appl                     ← EN bare object
    [VP √TEACH                                · ES le / a + DP
       [Content something ]]]]                · ES accusative
                                              · DE beibringen: jdm etw
                                              · DE lehren: jdn etw
                                              · DE unterrichten: jdn in + dat

The English gloss spells no dative and no a. PONS, on the German page, prints jdm etw beibringen and jdn in etw Dat unterrichten under one English gloss. The Spanish nominal frame matches the first of those, the dative, and not the double accusative of lehren.

Layer-by-layer parallel: English teach, Spanish enseñar, three German lemmas
Layer	teach (EN) · no page	enseñar	beibringen	lehren
Spec,Voice	Teacher	Teacher	Teacher	Teacher
Learner	bare object	dative in the nominal frame · direct is the minority of a + infinitive	dative	accusative in the active norm · dative printed, labels disagree
Content	bare object, or an infinitive	accusative, or a + infinitive · a que unprinted	accusative, a wie-clause, or a zu-infinitive	accusative, or a bare infinitive
Display	not this gloss	DLE sense 4 · same cloth · flagged	no display sense on the German page	off-frame dass-clause, not a thing shown

Notes

Working paper · October 2026 · Spanish micro-entry · Beyond Index 2

Teaching in Spanish is not the English double object, and it is not one gloss with German. Teacher (Voice, subject), Learner (low Appl), Content (complement of the root). In the DPD’s nominal frame the Learner is dative (le / les, a + DP) and the Content is accusative. When the Content is unexpressed, the person stays indirect. With enseñar a + infinitive the person is indirect in the majority and direct in a minority the DPD also calls valid. DLE sense 4 is mostrar. German beibringen matches the dative Learner. German lehren’s double accusative does not.

ES micro-entry live Beyond Index 2 mostrar is not teach DE lehren live RU учить live HU tanít live JA 教える live FR enseigner live IT insegnare live PL uczyć live NL leren live NO lære live BG уча live ZH 教 live PT ensinar live

Sense × language: teach · Spanish (enseñar). The teaching sense is the page. DLE sense 4, display, stays flagged and off the teaching gloss. aprender, instruir, and educar stay notes. No English teach hub. German: teach · lehren / beibringen / unterrichten. Russian: teach · учить / научить. Hungarian: teach · tanít. Japanese: teach · 教える. French: teach · enseigner. Italian: teach · insegnare. Polish: teach · uczyć / nauczyć. Dutch: teach · leren. Norwegian: teach · lære. Bulgarian: teach · уча / науча. Mandarin: teach · 教. Portuguese: teach · ensinar. Geometry neighbors: lend · prestar · rent · alquilar. Index 2 Spanish Transfer cites intercambiar, cambiar, dar — not enseñar.

Places
EN ⇄ ES strip
Examples
Voice
Derivations
Hierarchy
Geometry
Open items
Corpus and sources

Working paper. Spanish-only micro-entry. Frames were checked on the DLE (enseñar, aprender, instruir, educar), on the DPD (enseñar, aprender, instruir, and the leísmo article), and on the RAE query about le enseña a luchar / la enseña a luchar.

Constructed examples. DPD lines, the RAE query’s two clitics, and the DLE definitions are marked as printed. Le enseño español a Ana, Le enseñó a nadar, and the starred bare double object are marked constructed. The direct person of a + infinitive is quoted, not starred. a que + subjunctive is unprinted on enseñar and is not constructed.

Arity. Index 2 does not list enseñar. Surface count can name a teacher, a learner, and a content. The lexicon does not list three co-arguments of one flat V, and it does not list the English double object as the Spanish frame. Voice adds the Teacher. Low Appl adds the Learner. The root takes the Content. The object inside an infinitive is not a further sister of enseñar.

What this page does not do. It does not call the DPD’s le variant leísmo. The leísmo article does not name enseñar. It does not turn the unexpressed Content into a direct-object Learner. It does not open a page for aprender, instruir, or educar. It does not map DLE sense 4 onto teach. It does not quote Kendris or María Moliner.

Hierarchy

Not a flat grid of three sisters, and not the English double object copied onto one Spanish verb. Voice adds the Teacher. Low Appl adds the Learner. The root takes the Content.

What Spanish changes, against teach someone something, is the Learner’s case. The DPD’s nominal frame is an indirect person and a direct Content. When that Content is missing, the person stays indirect. When the Content is a + infinitive, the person may be indirect or direct. German beibringen is the dative match. German lehren’s two accusatives are a different frame. The display sense uses the nominal cloth and is not a teaching.

Geometry · enseñar beside the German teaching lemmas

English teach. Two bare objects in the gloss teach someone something. No English page is opened.
enseñar. Nominal frame: dative Learner, accusative Content. Content unexpressed: person stays indirect. a + infinitive: indirect majority, direct minority. a que unprinted. DLE sense 4 is display.
beibringen. Dative Learner, accusative Content. The case match for the Spanish nominal frame. No mostrar sense on that page.
lehren. Accusative Learner and accusative Content in the active norm, or an infinitive. A dative Learner is printed, and the labels disagree. That double accusative is not the DPD’s nominal frame. The off-frame show is a dass-clause.
unterrichten. Accusative Learner, Content in in+dative when the Learner is in the clause. Spanish instruir takes en or sobre of the discipline, and the DPD’s lo instruyó makes the person the direct object.
aprender. The learner is the subject. The usual person-source is de. American Spanish also prints an indirect object. con is unprinted. Skill sense: a + infinitive or a que + subjunctive.
educar. DLE sense 2’s printed object is the faculty, la inteligencia, la voluntad, not a dative Learner plus an accusative Content.

Open items

A full DP with no clitic. The Vergés line doubles a Yolanda with le. A full indirect object of enseñar with no clitic is unprinted in the lines read. Not starred.
se lo. Unprinted. te lo is the printed clitic pair. Not constructed.
Direct person with no Content and no infinitive. Unprinted. The DPD’s sentence for that gap is les enseñan bien. Not given the §2 minority-direct label.
a que + subjunctive of enseñar. Unprinted. Not constructed. The printed a que + subjunctive is aprender’s skill sense.
en of a discipline on enseñar. Unprinted. Printed on instruir.
con of a person on aprender. Unprinted. The DPD prints de, and an American Spanish indirect object.
Passive. Unprinted for enseñar. Not constructed.
Kendris and Moliner. Not opened. No sentence from either is quoted. The paradigm is the DLE table.

Corpus filenames and sources checked

Dictionary frames: DLE enseñar, aprender, instruir, educar; DPD 2.ª edición enseñar, aprender, instruir, and leísmo (the last does not name enseñar); the RAE linguistic query on la enseña a luchar / le enseña a luchar. Literary lines are quoted only as those entries print them. Constructed clauses put a printed dative on a named Learner, or a printed a-infinitive on nadar. Barron’s 501 Spanish Verbs (Kendris) and María Moliner’s Diccionario de uso del español were not opened. Index 2 does not list enseñar. Spanish Transfer in Index 2 is intercambiar, cambiar, dar.

DLE · enseñar dle.rae.es/enseñar · sense 1 Instruir, doctrinar, amaestrar · sense 4 Mostrar o exponer algo · antonym aprender · enseño, enseñó, ha enseñado · no clause in the article served
DPD · enseñar rae.es/dpd/enseñar · 2.ª edición · indirect person + direct object · les enseñan bien · enseñar a + infinitive, indirect majority or direct minority · Vergés, Ballester, Andrade, Donoso, García Márquez as the entry cites them
RAE · consultas lingüísticas rae.es · la enseña a luchar / le enseña a luchar · indirect or direct · majority is the first · points to the DPD
DPD · leísmo rae.es/dpd/leísmo · the article does not name enseñar
DPD · aprender rae.es/dpd/aprender · person-source de · American Spanish indirect · skill sense a + infinitive or a que + subjunctive
DLE · aprender dle.rae.es/aprender · sense 1 · antonym enseñar · Hay que aprender de los propios errores is the entry’s example, and that de is not a person
DPD · instruir rae.es/dpd/instruir · en or sobre · le enseñó a hablar beside lo instruyó sobre modales · like construir
DLE · instruir dle.rae.es/instruir · sense 1 Enseñar, doctrinar
DLE · educar dle.rae.es/educar · sense 2 Educar la inteligencia, la voluntad
German sibling teach-de.html · beibringen dative Learner + accusative Content · lehren double accusative · unterrichten accusative Learner + in+dative

Records the dative Learner and the accusative Content of nominal enseñar, the indirect person when the Content is unexpressed, and both printed persons of enseñar a + infinitive. Records DLE sense 4 as display. Does not open aprender.