Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns Together

1. Al usar los dos pronombres juntos (Using Both Pronouns Together)

To begin the lesson:

watch

Take a moment to review the object pronouns in Spanish. Direct object pronouns answer the question “What?” or “Who?”

EXAMPLE

David bought it for me. David is going to buy it for me.

In Spanish, these object pronouns must go before the conjugated verb when there is one conjugated verb.

EXAMPLE

David me lo compró.

2. Order and Placement

First, can you identify which is the direct object in the sentence below?

¿Qué vende? (What does he sell?)

Now, what is the indirect object of the same sentence? ¿A quién vende las camisetas? (To whom does he sell the t-shirts?)

You have learned in previous lessons that the object pronoun is placed before the conjugated verb when there is only one verb in the sentence. That will still be the case with two object pronouns.

2a. Order and Placement of Object Pronouns in Sentences with One Verb

Now let’s use the sentence above to illustrate the steps you will follow for replacing both objects with pronouns when there is only one verb in the sentence:

step by step

1. Determine the direct object of the sentence.
muchas camisetas
2. Replace it with the correct direct object pronoun.
las (them)
3. Determine the indirect object of the sentence.
a mi y a mí amiga
4. Refer to it with the correct indirect object pronoun.
nos (to us)
5. Put both object pronouns before the verb. The indirect object pronoun will come first.

Felipe

nos

las

vende.

Here is another way to visualize where the indirect object pronouns will be placed.

try it

Restate each sentence below using double object pronouns. You will need to identify the direct object, replace it with the correct pronoun, and determine the right word order. Click on the plus sign to see the answer before you move on to the next section of the lesson.

1. El camarero me sirve las arepas con queso.

Answer: El camarero me las sirve.

2. Yo te digo el secreto a ti.

Answer: Yo te lo digo.

3. Mis abuelos nos dan (they give) los regalos de Navidad a nosotros cada año.

Answer: Mis abuelos nos los dan.

2b. Order and Placement of Object Pronouns in Sentences with Two Verbs

What if you have two verbs? Do you recall that object pronouns can be attached to the end of an infinitive or a participle? If you have two verbs in a sentence that are working together, you will have two options for where to place the object pronouns, just as you had two placement options when there was only one object pronoun. Whichever placement option you choose, both of the pronouns need to stay together.

Here is our new sentence with two verbs:

Where should the object pronouns go? There are two options; both are correct and neither is more common in a particular region or dialect. Spanish speakers use them interchangeably.

The first option is to place both object pronouns before the conjugated verb. The conjugated verb is the first one in the pair—in this case, va.

step by step

1. You can put both object pronouns before the conjugated verb (the first verb in the pair). The indirect object pronoun will come first.

audio (31).mp3

Felipe

nos

las

va a vender.

2. This would also be the case with the present progressive. You could put the object pronouns before the first verb (the conjugated verb).

audio (32).mp3

Felipe

nos

las

está vendiendo.

The second option is to attach both object pronouns to the end of the non-conjugated verb (the infinitive or the present participle). The non-conjugated verb is always the second verb in the pair.

step by step

1. Attach both pronouns to the end of the non-conjugated verb—in this case, the infinitive vender. The indirect object pronoun comes first. Note that vendérnoslas is written as a single word.

Felipe

va a vendér

nos

las.

Felipe

is going to sell

them

to me and to my friend.

2. This would also be the case with the present progressive. You could attach both of the object pronouns to the end of the second verb (the present participle): vendiéndonoslas.

audio (34).mp3

Felipe

está vendiéndo

nos

las.

It is not possible to place the pronouns between the two verbs. Also, you will never see them split up (with one before the first verb and one after the second verb); they must be placed together.

hint

A written accent mark must be added to the participle when you attach either a direct or an indirect object pronoun (or both). The written accent mark must always be included in a word where the natural stress is on the third-to-last or fourth-to-last syllable.

The written accent mark will go over the vowel preceding ndo in a participle with an object pronoun (or two) attached: vendiéndonoslas.

vendiéndo

nos

las

When attaching object pronouns to an infinitive, you will not need a written accent mark when only attaching one object pronoun. However, you will need to add one when you attach two object pronouns. You will place the accent mark over the vowel before the letter r: vendérnoslas.

vendér

nos

las

try it

Restate each sentence below using both an indirect and a direct object pronoun. Give both of the word order options (placing the object pronouns before the first verb and attaching them to the end of the second verb). Click on the plus sign to see the answer before you move on to the next section of the lesson.

1. Nosotros te estamos mostrando el baile a ti.

Answer: Nosotros te lo estamos mostrando.OR Nosotros estamos mostrándotelo.

2. Yo os voy a pedir las empanadas a ti y a Isabel.

Answer: Yo os las voy a pedir. OR Yo voy a pedíroslas.

3. The Use of Se

There is one more thing that you will need to know regarding the use of indirect and direct object pronouns. When both of the pronouns start with the letter L, the indirect object pronoun (le or les) changes to se. The table below shows all of the pronoun combinations that require this change:

When used in this way, se has the same meaning as le or les. This change occurs regardless of which placement option you are using when there are two verbs in the sentence.

EXAMPLE

	Consider the sentence La mesera les va a servir los camarones a los clientes.
	This would become either La mesera se los va a servir or La mesera va a servírselos.

try it

Restate each sentence using double object pronouns. Click on the plus sign to see the answer.

1. Alejandro les lee el libro a sus hijos.

Answer: Alejandro se lo lee.

2. Sara le trae la leche a su hijo.

Answer: Sara se la trae.