Spanish Object Pronouns

A direct object pronoun replaces the thing the verb acts on: lo, la, los, las. An indirect object pronoun replaces the person who receives it: le, les. The first and second person forms (me, te, nos, os) are the same for both, so only the third person actually has to be chosen. Both go before the conjugated verb, and when the two stack the indirect one comes first.

Spanish pronouns shift to before the verb. stays SVO, but flips to Object-Verb. Internalising this shift is the single biggest move between A2 and B1 word order.

Direct object pronouns: lo, la, los, las

Direct object pronouns replace the thing or person the action is done to.

Person	Direct
me	me
you ()
him / it (m)
her / it (f)
us
you ()
them (m)
them (f)

Indirect object pronouns: le, les

Indirect object pronouns replace the recipient of the action.

Person	Indirect
me	me
you ()
him / her / it / you-
us
you ()
them / you--plural

Note the overlap. me, , , are identical for direct and indirect. Only the third-person forms split: , , , for direct; , for indirect.

Position: before the conjugated verb

The default position for any object pronoun is directly before the conjugated verb.

. (I see the book.) → . (I see it.)
. (I buy the house.) → . (I buy it.)
a María. (I give the book to Maria.) → . (I give her the book.) → . (I give it to her.)

Negation goes in front of the whole pronoun-plus-verb cluster: no , no .

Attachment to infinitives, gerunds and affirmative commands

With a non-finite verb form, the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb.

Infinitive: quiero verlo (I want to see it). Both forms work with an auxiliary: and verlo are both grammatical.
Gerund: estoy viéndolo (I'm watching it). Both forms work: and viéndolo.
Affirmative imperative: dámelo (give it to me). Required - you cannot say "me lo da" as a command.
Negative imperative: no me lo des (don't give it to me). Reverts to pre-verbal.

Note the written accents on viéndolo and dámelo. Attaching pronouns shifts the stress pattern, and a written accent goes on the original stressed syllable to preserve it.

Double object pronouns: the order when both appear

When you have both an indirect and a direct pronoun, they stack in a fixed order: indirect first, direct second.

Me . (He tells it to me. me = indirect, lo = direct)
. (I give it to you. te = indirect, la = direct)
. (They bought them for us.)

The se lo rule

Spanish refuses to put two l-starting pronouns next to each other. When the indirect le or les is followed by a third-person direct lo / la / los / las, / becomes .

a María → (not "le lo doy")
→ (not "les las compré")
a → (not "le la digo")

The se here has nothing to do with reflexives - it's a pure phonetic fix. The trade-off is ambiguity: could mean "I give it to him / her / you-formal / them". Spanish usually disambiguates by adding a + pronoun: a , a .

Worked examples

¿Me ? (Are you telling me?)
. (I'll send it to you tomorrow.)
. (I bought them for him / her / them yesterday.)
dártelo. (I want to give it to you.)
leyéndolo. (He's reading it.)
No me . (Don't tell me.)

Common mistakes English speakers make

Leaving the pronoun after the verb out of English habit: instead of . Reversing the order: me instead of me . Forgetting the se lo rule: instead of . And dropping the written accent when attaching: damelo instead of dámelo.

The Spanish word order page covers pre-verbal pronoun placement as one of the five core divergences from English.
The intermediate Spanish grammar page covers clitic attachment in full, including double-verb constructions.
Spanish pronoun order drills the indirect-before-direct sequence on its own.
The personal a explains why a person as a direct object still takes a, which is what makes direct and indirect look alike.
Gustar and verbs like it is the commonest place a learner meets and in the wild.
Spanish subject pronouns covers the set these replace.
The Spanish imperative covers the attachment rule for commands.

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

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Replace the object in brackets with the correct direct object pronoun (lo, la, los, las) and write it in the gap.

Veo el coche. -> veo. (el coche = masculine singular)
Miro la casa. -> miro. (la casa = feminine singular)
Veo los coches. -> veo. (los coches = masculine plural)
Miro las casas. -> miro. (las casas = feminine plural)
Digo la verdad. -> digo. (la verdad = feminine singular)
Veo el agua. -> veo. (el agua = feminine singular)
Miro las manos. -> miro. (las manos = feminine plural)
Veo a los hombres. -> veo. (los hombres = masculine plural)

Pick the right one

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Pick the pronoun that fits the gap: lo for the direct object (the thing seen, bought, given), le for the indirect object (the recipient).

Veo el coche. -> veo.
Doy el coche a María. -> doy el coche a María.
Miro el coche. -> miro.
Digo la verdad a él. -> digo la verdad.
Veo el día. -> veo.
Doy el coche a mi madre. -> doy el coche.
Hago el trabajo. -> hago.
Digo la verdad a ella. -> digo la verdad.

Translation drill

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Translate into Spanish, putting the object pronoun before the conjugated verb and applying the se lo rule where both pronouns appear.

I see it. (the car)
I give it to her. (the car)
He tells it to me.
I left them for them. (the houses)
I see it. (the house)
I give it to him. (the car)
She tells it to us. (the truth)
I give them to her. (the cars)

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish?

Direct objects receive the action of the verb; indirect objects receive the direct object. In 'I give the book to María', the book is the direct object (what is given) and María is the indirect object (who receives it). Spanish direct object pronouns are me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las; indirect object pronouns are me, te, le, nos, os, les. The first and second person forms (me, te, nos, os) are identical for both; the third person forms diverge.

Why does le lo become se lo?

Spanish doesn't allow two consecutive object pronouns starting with l (le lo, le la, le los, le las, les lo, etc.). When the indirect object pronoun le or les is followed by a third-person direct object pronoun (lo, la, los, las), le or les becomes se. So 'I give it to him' is se lo doy, not 'le lo doy'. It's a pure phonetic fix, nothing to do with the reflexive se.

What are the 8 direct object pronouns in Spanish?

me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las. They replace the thing or person the verb acts on: lo veo (I see it or him), las compro (I buy them, feminine). Note that os is Spain only; Latin America uses los or las for a plural you. The third-person forms agree in gender and number with the noun they replace, which is the part English speakers have to think about, because English just says it.

How do you know if it is a direct or an indirect object?

Ask what the verb does, then ask who ends up with the result. In doy el libro a María, the verb acts on el libro, so that is the direct object, and María receives it, so she is the indirect object. A rough English test is whether you could put to or for in front of it: to María works, so María is indirect. Be careful with the personal a, which puts a in front of a human direct object too and makes the two look identical on the page.

What are double object pronouns in Spanish?

Two object pronouns used together, one indirect and one direct, as in me lo dice (he tells it to me). The order is fixed: indirect first, direct second, and both sit before the conjugated verb. If the indirect pronoun is le or les and the direct one begins with l, the indirect becomes se, so le lo doy is impossible and se lo doy is correct.

What are the commonest mistakes with Spanish indirect object pronouns?

Three. Reversing the order, saying lo me da instead of me lo da. Forgetting the se rule and producing le lo doy instead of se lo doy. And leaving le out altogether with verbs like gustar and decir, where Spanish wants the indirect pronoun even when the person is already named: le doy el libro a María is normal and correct, and the apparent duplication is not an error.