Friday, October 8, 2010

Double Object Pronouns

You can actually place a direct object pronoun with an indirect object pronoun in the same sentence. The indirect object pronoun comes before the direct object pronoun, and as you recall, means "to or for someone or something" and are translated into the Spanish pronouns le or les.

Necesito el libro que lees. ¿Me lo prestas? I need the book that you're reading. Will you loan it to me?

Te lo presto mañana. Me lo necesito a mi hoy. I will loan it to you tomorrow. I need it for myself today.


If the indirect object is in the third person ("to/for him", "to/for her", or "to/for them"), then the pronoun becomes converted to se.

Tengo en la mano unos chicharrones para mi perro. Se los voy a dar luego. I have in my hand some pork rinds for my dog. I will give them to him later.


When there is a reflexive verb, whatver direct object is associated with the reflexive action can turn into a pronoun as well, as long as it is understood. For example, we know ponerse + article of clothing means to put on said article of clothing; however, we can convert the noun(article of clothing) into a pronoun as long as the listener and speaker are in accordance with the meaning:

¿Los zapatos? Ya me los puse. The shoes? I already put them on.

¿You know where the Bob Marley tee shirt is? David put it on and left for Jamaica. ¿Sabes en donde está la camiseta de Bob Marley? David se la puso y se fue para Jamaica.


Sometimes, you'll need to clarify the meaning of the sentence when there is a "se" replacing the "le" or "les" to lessen confusion over the sentence and avoid ambiguity. This can be done with the introduction of a prepositional phrase including the agent "a", as in a mi, a mi madre, and so on.

¿Las zapatos? Yo se las puse a mi hija. A ella no se las pone porque se equivoca los pies. The shoes? I put them on my daughter. She doesn't put them on herself because she gets them on the wrong feet.

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