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?DirectIndirect

Let's take a look at an example: YoDoyEl dinero Te, a Ti (informal you) subject pronoun I our conjugated verb I'm giving direct objectdirect object it's what I'm giving. The money is receiving the direct action of the verb. Indirect object Indirect object Pronoun, Indirect Object YOU are receiving the money! (indirect benefit of my action/verb)Indirect Object Yo doy el dinero a ti.

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

El policíalleva las direcciones nos, a nosostros The subjectthe verb the direct object. We use the pronoun las. the indirect object. the pronoun nos is already in the sentence El policía nos las lleva. SUBJECT IO DO VERB Let's look at another example: First, we'll identify the different components of the sentence: If we follow the ID rule, our final sentence is: El policía nos lleva las direcciones a nosotros.

Es muy fácil ¿sí? Pero……

But (of course!) we have a small exception. Let's look at this sentence: Juan le escribe una carta a María. Juanescribeuna cartale, a María Subjectverb Direct object We replace this with la since una carta is singular and feminine Indirect object The singular third person pronoun, le, is already there *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, Here is one way to remember the exception: o 1) Only Eric Clapton sings Layla (le la) or Laylas (le las). o 2) Only criminals Lay low (le lo). o 3) Spanish speakers "Say" la/las and "Say" lo/los (se la, se las, se lo, se los) *Juan le la escribe. must change to---->Juan se la escribe.

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 at the end of an infinitive or a gerund just as we do with single object pronouns. 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

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.

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