Reference · module 14
Lo, la, le
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Standing in for the thing
Replace a direct object with lo, la, los, las.
- Instead of repeating the noun, Spanish puts a pronoun in front of the verb: ¿El libro? Lo tengo. ¿La carta? La escribí.
- The pronoun matches the noun it replaces in gender and number: lo, la, los, las. Nothing else decides it.
- lo can also stand for a whole idea: No lo sé. There is no noun there — lo is holding the entire thing that is not known.
The mistake you are about to make
Tengo lo.
Lo tengo.
"I have it" puts the pronoun after the verb. Spanish puts it in front: lo tengo.
Le and les
Say who something is done for.
- le answers to whom: Le doy el libro. It is the same for him, for her and for you formal.
- Because le is vague, Spanish often adds the person anyway: Le doy el libro a María. The le stays even so.
- gustar, encantar, interesar and doler always work this way: Me gusta, le duele, nos interesa.
The mistake you are about to make
Lo doy el libro.
Le doy el libro.
English "him" covers both jobs, so lo comes out. The person receiving is le; lo is the thing given.
Se lo di
Use two pronouns together.
- When both pronouns appear, the person comes first: Me lo dio. Te la mandé. Nos los enseñó.
- le and les turn into se before lo or la: not le lo di but se lo di. Two l sounds in a row is what Spanish avoids.
- Nothing goes between them. They move as one block, and a negative stands in front of the whole pair: No se lo di.
The mistake you are about to make
Le lo di.
Se lo di.
Le means "to him", so it goes in front of lo. Spanish will not put two l-pronouns together: le becomes se.
Where the pronoun sits
Place pronouns around infinitives and commands.
- With an infinitive there is a choice: Voy a hacerlo, or Lo voy a hacer. Both are correct and both are common.
- The same with a gerund: Estoy leyéndolo, or Lo estoy leyendo. Attaching it adds an accent to keep the stress where it was.
- A positive command has no choice: the pronoun attaches. Dímelo. A negative one puts it back in front: No me lo digas.
The mistake you are about to make
Me lo di.
Dímelo.
Pronouns go before the verb, and that rule has sunk in. In a positive command they attach to the end: dímelo.