Spanish Direct and Indirect Objects
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Where to place direct and indirect objects in Spanish (lo, la, me, te, etc.) when using conjugated verbs
The rules about where to place the objects can seem quite complicated, but they're really pretty simple. Here they are, all tidily summed up. Learn these, and you will know almost everything you will ever need to know about where to place those pesky little Spanish words which seem to move around so much:
Spanish Direct Objects: usually lo, la, los, las
Spanish Indirect Objects usually me, te, le, nos, os, les, and se when combined with a direct oject, as in "se lo di ayer" (I gave it to him yesterday).
The Rules:
1. One-word verbs: the object goes in front:
Lo tengo. (I have it.)
No lo necesito. (I don't need it.)
La compraremos mañana. (We'll buy it tomorrow.)
Me duché anoche. (I showered last night.)
Te lo daré mañana. (I'll give it to you tomorrow.)
Te quiero. (I love you.)
2. Present Perfect Tense: the object goes in front as with one-word verbs. (This is not true with other compound verbs as seen in rule 3 below).
Los he visto hoy. (I've seen them today.)
No me han dado nada. (They haven't given me anything.)
Te lo he dicho. (I've told you about it.)
Los hemos comprado. (We've bought them.)
3. Compound verbs (verbs of more than one word) EXCEPT the Present Perfect: the object goes in front, or behind and attached when written:
Lo estoy comiendo / Estoy comiéndolo (I'm eating it.)
La vamos a visitar / Vamos a visitarla (We're going to visit her tomorrow.)
Lo puede hacer / Puede hacerlo (I can do it.)
Me voy a duchar / Voy a ducharme (I'm going to shower.)
Se lo voy dar / Voy a dárselo. (I'm going to give it to him/her/them.)
Commands (the imperative) in Spanish:
Affirmative commands: behind and attached:
Cómpralo (Buy it.)
Dánosla (Give it to us.)
Dúchate (Take a shower.)
Envíaselo (Send it to him/her/them.)
Negative commands: in front of the verb / between NO and the verb (same thing, really):
No lo compres (Don't buy it.)
No nos la des (Don't give it to us.)
No te duches (Don't take a shower.)
No se lo envíes (Don't send it to him/her/them.)
