LingoflyLo, la, le and se lo: how not to name the thing twice
In a shop you cannot manage without pronouns: the thing is named once and then talked about for five sentences. Spanish keeps two rows. Whom or what: lo, la, los, las. To whom: le, les. For example: “¿Me lo puede envolver para regalo?” — Could you wrap it for me as a gift? A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In a shop you cannot manage without pronouns: the thing is named once and then talked about for five sentences. Spanish keeps two rows. Whom or what: lo, la, los, las. To whom: le, les.
¿El jersey? Lo compré ayer. ¿La talla? No la tengo. Le he dado el ticket a la cajera. Their place is fixed, in front of the verb: lo quiero, no lo veo.
With two pronouns the order is set: to whom first, then what. Me lo das, te la enseño. And le before lo turns into se: se lo doy, never le lo doy.
One more thing English never does. Even when the thing is named at the front, the pronoun still goes in: el ticket lo guardo yo.
Table
| role | forms | example | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| direct | lo, la, los, las | lo compro | I'm buying it |
| indirect | me, te, le, nos, os, les | le doy el ticket | I give him the receipt |
| two in a row | indirect + direct | me lo das | you give it to me |
| le + lo | se lo | se lo doy | I give it to him |
| with an infinitive | attached or in front | voy a comprarlo / lo voy a comprar | I'm going to buy it |
| with a command | attached, one word | dámelo | give it to me |
By example
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
Lo vs le in Spanish?
In a shop you cannot manage without pronouns: the thing is named once and then talked about for five sentences. Spanish keeps two rows. Whom or what: lo, la, los, las. To whom: le, les.
Why se lo and not le lo?
With two pronouns the order is set: to whom first, then what. Me lo das, te la enseño. And le before lo turns into se: se lo doy, never le lo doy.
Dámelo or me lo das?
With two pronouns the order is set: to whom first, then what. Me lo das, te la enseño. And le before lo turns into se: se lo doy, never le lo doy.
Lo, la or le?
In a shop you cannot manage without pronouns: the thing is named once and then talked about for five sentences. Spanish keeps two rows. Whom or what: lo, la, los, las. To whom: le, les.
Where lo and la go with an infinitive?
With two pronouns the order is set: to whom first, then what. Me lo das, te la enseño. And le before lo turns into se: se lo doy, never le lo doy.
What does it look like in a Spanish example sentence?
“¿Me lo puede envolver para regalo?” — Could you wrap it for me as a gift? A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.