Chapter 1

Topic 4 Double Object Pronouns

A table that displays subject pronouns in english, and then translates them into different forms of spanish pronouns
Pronoun Indirect Object Pronoun Direct Object Pronoun Subject pronoun
Me me me Yo
You te te Tú
Her/Him/It *le (se) lo, la Ud./él/ella
Us nos nos Nosotros
Them *les (se) los, las Uds./ellos/as

The Direct Object Pronoun and the Indirect Object Pronoun are grammatical concepts use in English, as well as Spanish.

  • Their function is to replace and avoid repetition of the name of a person or a thing.
  • It simplifies a sentence. Think of “it.”
  • The Direct Object Pronoun receives the action of the verb DIRECTLY.
  • The Indirect Object Pronoun is the person or thing that receives INDIRECTLY that action.

I buy flowers for my daughter.

An example sentence containing double object pronouns in the form of a table, meant for examination.
I buy flowers for my daughter.
A table that displays three items meant to be used as a key of reference for the sentence in the table above, and for the sentence below. The first item of this table is a key for the verbs, the second for the direct object pronouns(flowers / them ), and the third for the indirect object pronouns(My daughter / her)
ver/action Direct Object Pronoun Indirect Object Pronoun
An example sentence containing double object pronouns in the form of a table, meant for examination.
I buy them for her.

The indirect object pronoun always precedes the direct object pronoun, when both are in the same sentence.

Carlos me (indirect) dijo un secreto (direct).
Carlos told me a secret.
Me lo dijo.
He told it to me.

Single object pronouns, are place before a conjugated verb. Double object pronouns as well.

Sandra me va dar un regalo.
Sandra me lo va a dar.

 

They can be attached to the end of an infinitives and present participles (-ando/-iendo).

When two pronouns are attached to an infinitive, a written accent is required.

Va a dármelo.

 

When an indirect object pronoun is in the third person, “le” or “les”, and is followed by the third person direct object pronoun, (“lo, la, los & las”) le or les changes to “se“.

Le doy el cuaderno. I give him the notebook.
Se lo doy.             I give it to him.

 

“Se” may have several meanings. a prepositional phrase is often added for clarification.

Se la dio a ella.
He gave it to her.

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Spanish 002 Copyright © 2019 by Ana Serrano is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.