Indirect object pronouns question

I see sentences constructed like this a lot, using the indirect pronoun with the noun, instead of as replacement for it, this from lesson 9.2:

No le vi a mi mamá.

(I) didn't see my mom.

Why not just “No vi a mi mama?”

It seems to just add complexity to have the indirect pronoun here. My Colombian wife tells me that 

“No vi a mi mama” is more normal. Otherwise you  could just say No le vi, I did not see her. 

I ask because I have been struggling to learn Spanish for so long, and I am always looking for the simplest way to speak wihtout added complexity.

Thank you

¡Hola BarryH12!

Thanks for your question!

The pronoun le is completely optional in this sentence - so if you wanted, you could indeed say No vi a mi mamá for “I didn't see my mom” and your sentence would be perfectly correct. 

Normally, you'll find indirect object pronouns and nouns referring to the same people/things in Spanish sentences when the speaker wants to add clarity to the pronoun. In other words, if they wanted to specify that the le in the sentence No le vi “(I) didn't see her” was their mom, they would tack a mi mamá on to the end of the sentence and create No le vi a mi mamá. But, again, keeping the indirect object pronoun in a sentence like this is optional. 

You will find that when the indirect object pronoun is le or les, though, most Spanish speakers do tend to include the optional indirect object pronoun. However, you don't have to include it yourself if you don't want to! 

You can find further examples and explanations on this kind of redundant use of indirect object pronouns in Lesson 5.7: "To Me" and "For Her": Indirect Object Pronouns, under the section “To Whom? Adding Clarity to LE and LES.” I'd also recommend checking out the following section, “Using Prepositional Pronouns With A,” which explains when including the indirect object pronoun is not optional, but required.

I hope that this is helpful! Do let me know if you still have any questions!

Saludos,

Liss

Hi Liss, thank you for the reply, it is very helpful! 

-Barry