la or le

Luego de colgarla, el cumpleañero tiene que destrozarla vendado, pegándole con un palo.  Lesson 17.2

Why isn't it pegándola?

¡Hola TravisB13!

Thank you for your question!

Pegar can seem like a bit of a strange verb because when you're using it to mean “to hit,” the person or thing that you are hitting is an indirect object, not a direct object - so, pegándole and not pegándola. 

A way that you can remember this is by considering the fact that pegar can also be translated as “to give,” as in “to give (some kind of blow) to something / someone.” This can be seen more clearly when you're being specific about the kind of hitting; for example, pegar una patada “to kick” literally means “to give a kick.” So when you kick someone, you are giving a kick to that person (i.e. the person being kicked is an indirect object). 

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

Saludos,

Liss