Give me that: the short pronouns
English puts 'me' or 'it' after the verb. Spanish puts a short word in front of it and keeps two rows. Whom or what: me, te, lo / la, nos, os, los / las. To whom: me, te, le, nos, os, les. For example: “Te lo prometo, mañana te llamo” — I promise it to you — I will call tomorrow. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English puts 'me' or 'it' after the verb. Spanish puts a short word in front of it and keeps two rows. Whom or what: me, te, lo / la, nos, os, los / las. To whom: me, te, le, nos, os, les.
Only the third person differs, and that is where people slip. La veo — I see her. Le hablo — I talk to her.
Their place is fixed, in front of the conjugated verb: te llamo mañana, no lo necesito. With a negation the order is no, pronoun, verb.
Two of them go in one order: to whom first, then what. Me lo das. And le or les before lo or la turns into se: se lo doy, never le lo doy.
Table
| to whom (indirect) | whom, what (direct) | |
|---|---|---|
| I | me | me |
| you (tú) | te | te |
| he, she, you (usted) | le → se before lo/la | lo / la |
| we | nos | nos |
| they, ustedes | les → se before los/las | los / las |
By example
- Te lo prometo, mañana te llamoI promise it to you — I will call tomorrow
- La cuenta se la doy al camareroThe bill I give to the waiter
- No te preocupes, voy a explicártelo otra vezDon't worry, I will explain it to you one more time
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Give me that: how does it work in Spanish?
English puts 'me' or 'it' after the verb. Spanish puts a short word in front of it and keeps two rows. Whom or what: me, te, lo / la, nos, os, los / las. To whom: me, te, le, nos, os, les.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Te lo prometo, mañana te llamo” — I promise it to you — I will call tomorrow. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.