Double Object Pronouns in Spanish

We have looked at both Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns and learned that we place them either directly before a conjugated verb or attach them to an infinitive, a gerund or a command. But what happens when we have both direct and indirect object pronouns in one sentence? Who goes where?

Let's take a look at an example:

Yo te doy el dinero a ti.

First, we'll identify the different components of this sentence:

Yo	Doy	El dinero	Te, a Ti (informal you)
subject pronoun I	our conjugated verb I'm giving	direct object it's what I'm giving	Indirect object Pronoun, Indirect Object YOU are receiving the benefit of my action

Now, we replace el dinero with the pronoun lo because dinero is masculine and singular. And we already have the Indirect Object Pronoun te.

Both object pronouns must come before the active/conjugated verb. But which comes first?

The indirect will ALWAYS come first.
An easy way to remember this is to think of I.D. (Indirect Object, Direct Object).

So, our sentence above can be converted into this three-word sentence using both an indirect and a direct object pronoun:

Te lo doy.

IO DO VERB

Let's look at another example:

El policía nos lleva las direcciones a nosotros.

First, we'll identify the different components of the sentence:

El policía	lleva	las direcciones	nos, a nosostros
The subject	the verb	the direct object. We use the pronoun las.	the indirect object. the pronoun nos is already in the sentence

If we follow the ID rule, our final sentence is:

El policía nos las lleva.

SUBJECT IO DO VERB

So far pretty easy!

But (of course!) we have a small exception. Let's look at this sentence:

Juan le escribe una carta a María.

When we examine the elements, we have:

Juan	escribe	una carta	le, a María
Subject	verb	Direct object We replace this with la since una carta is singular and feminine	Indirect object The singluar third person pronoun, le, is already there

So our sentence is:

*Juan le la escribe.

Right?
I guess you know from the red asterisk that this isn't what happens. Unfortunately, we cannot leave this sentence as it is. We cannot have two "L" object pronouns together. So our original sentence,

*Juan le la escribe.

must change to---->

Juan se la escribe.

Here is one way to remember the exception:

1) Only Eric Clapton sings Layla (le la) or Laylas (le las).
2) Only criminals Lay low (le lo).
3) Spanish speakers "Say" la/las and "Say" lo/los (se la, se las, se lo, se los)

Let's try another example:

Yo le pido los discos a mi hermano --> Yo se los pido.

le-->se los

IO DO

We have the option of retaining or removing the Indirect Object "tag" :

Yo se los pido a mi hermano.
Yo se los pido.

We can also place the double object pronouns on the end of an infinitive or a gerund just as we do with single object pronouns.

For example:

Yo les estoy explicando las reglas a ustedes.	Yo se las estoy explicando -or- Yo estoy explicándoselas.
les-->se las IO DO	IO-DO IO-DO

Another example with an infinitive:

Tomás nos va a servir el café a nosotros.

Tomás nos lo va a servir. --or-- Tomás va a servírnoslo.

Notice that we place accent marks on the present participles and infinitives to preserve the normal pronunciation of the verbs. If you aren't sure where to put the accent, cover up the pronoun/s and say the word naturally. The stressed syllable is where you put the accent:

Nosotros vamos a prestarle los libros a Elena.
le-->se los

*Nosotros vamos a prestarselos--?
And now where do we put the accent...?

1) Take off the pronouns: Prestar - [selas]

2) Find the normal stresses syllable: presTAR

3) Write the accent mark and attach pronouns:

prestár + [selas]

Nosotros vamos a prestárselos.

Let's look at another example.

El ladrón le está robando el dinero a la víctima. le-->se lo	*El ladrón está robandoselo
1) robando - [selo] 2) roBANdo 3) robándo + [selo]	El ladrón está robándoselo.

Hints:

When using present participles (-ando and -iendo forms), the accent will always fall on the a for -ando forms, and on the e for -iendo forms.

When using infinitives, the accent will fall on the a for -ar verbs, on the e for -er verbs, and on the i for -ir verbs.

Review Indirect Objects	Review Direct Objects	Pop-Up game with Double Object Pronouns!	Double Object pronouns: Java games on the Web!
Mini-quiz on direct, indirect and double object pronouns!	Which to use - Direct or Indirect? Practice on the web!	Double object pronoun practice!	More double object practice!
Yet MORE double object pronoun practice!	Even more double object practice!		Back to the grammar Basics page!