Spanish Double Object Pronouns and the Change from Le to Se

In this lesson, you will combine an indirect object pronoun with a direct object pronoun. The indirect object comes first, and le or les changes to se before , , , or .

Review the two jobs

In a sentence such as — I give the book to Ana, — the book is the direct object and — to Ana identifies the recipient.

With one pronoun at a time:

— I give it to Ana.
— I give Ana the book.

Indirect object before direct object

When both objects become pronouns, put the indirect object pronoun first.

— You give it to me.
— I give it to you.
— They lend them to us.
— I return them to you all.

Le and les change to se

Spanish does not normally use combinations such as le or les . Before , , , or , le and les become se.

— I give the book to Ana.
— I give it to her.
— I lend the keys to Carlos and Marta.
— I lend them to them.

Se does not show singular or plural recipient

In these double-object combinations, se can replace le or les. The form se itself does not tell you whether the recipient is one person or several people.

— I give it to Ana.
— I give it to Carlos.
— I give it to Ana and Carlos.

Use context or an explicit a + person phrase when the recipient needs clarification.

Choose the direct object pronoun from the thing

Examples:

— I give it to him / her / them / you formal. Masculine singular object.
— I give it to him / her / them / you formal. Feminine singular object.
— I give them to him / her / them / you formal. Masculine plural objects.
— I give them to him / her / them / you formal. Feminine plural objects.

Before a conjugated verb

Put the complete pronoun group before a simple conjugated verb.

— You lend it to me.
— I return it to you tomorrow.
— We give them to him / her / them now.

With an infinitive

With a familiar two-verb structure, the pronoun group can appear before the conjugated verb or attach to the infinitive.

— I am going to give it to him / her / them.
— I am going to give it to him / her / them.
— I want to return it to you.
— I want to return it to you.

When the pronouns attach to the infinitive, a written accent may be needed to preserve the original stress.

With a gerund

The group can appear before estar or attach to the gerund.

— I am giving it to him / her / them.
— I am giving it to him / her / them.
— I am returning it to you.
— I am returning it to you.

With an affirmative command

Attach the pronoun group to an affirmative command.

— Give it to him / her / them.
— Lend it to me.
— Return them to me.

The written accent preserves the intended stress.

With a negative command

Put the pronoun group before the negative command.

— Do not give it to him / her / them.
— Do not lend it to me.

Do not lose track of the two roles

In — I give it to Ana, se identifies the recipient role and identifies the thing. The explicit clarifies who se refers to.

A practical double-pronoun method

Identify the thing: direct object.
Identify the recipient: indirect object.
Choose the indirect object pronoun first.
Choose , , , or for the direct object.
Change le or les to se before a third-person direct object pronoun.
Place the whole group together before a conjugated verb or attach it where the studied structure allows.
Use context or a + person to clarify se when necessary.

From Double Pronouns to Tracking Roles in Conversation

You can now combine two object pronouns while keeping the thing and recipient clear. The next lesson trains you to track who gives what to whom when Spanish conversations replace names with pronouns.