Place Object Pronouns Before Conjugated Verbs
Spanish normally places an unstressed object pronoun immediately before a conjugated verb. Rebuild familiar sentences in that order, including negatives and simple questions.
Learning objective
Position one object pronoun correctly before a conjugated verb in statements and questions.
A conjugated verb is a verb form changed to match the person performing an action, such as compro, necesitas, or escriben. An unstressed object pronoun is a short form such as me, te, lo, la, le, los, las, or les. Place it immediately before one conjugated verb: La conozco means I know her.
In an affirmative statement, the basic order is the subject if needed, then pronoun, then conjugated verb: Marcos lo compra. The subject is the person or group performing the action. Spanish often omits it when the ending is clear, giving Lo compro; the object pronoun does not move after the verb.
In a negative statement, place no before the object pronoun: No la necesito and Marta no me llama. Additional words such as nunca can alter the negative pattern, but the pronoun still stays attached in meaning and position to the conjugated verb rather than moving after it.
Simple questions preserve the same pronoun-before-verb relationship: ¿Lo tienes? and ¿Te ayudo? Written question marks and intonation signal the question; English-style do or does is not added. A question word can come first: ¿Cuándo les escribes?
This placement rule concerns one conjugated verb. Phrases that also contain an infinitive allow another position, taught separately, so first make this dependable pattern automatic. Read the sentence from the verb outward: identify who performs the action, then identify who or what receives it.
Examples
El informe está listo y lo envío hoy.
The report is ready, and I’m sending it today.
Lo appears before envío and links back to el informe.
Alicia no me conoce, pero yo la conozco.
Alicia doesn’t know me, but I know her.
No precedes me, while la precedes the second conjugated verb.
¿Las necesitas ahora o las llevamos mañana?
Do you need them now, or shall we take them tomorrow?
Both question clauses keep las before their verbs.
¿Cuándo le das la noticia a Bruno?
When are you giving Bruno the news?
The question word leads, and le remains directly before das.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- No necesito lo hoy y llamo te mañana.
- Try
- No lo necesito hoy y te llamo mañana.
With the simple conjugated verbs necesito and llamo, the object pronouns must come before them. No stands before lo in the negative part. Te also precedes llamo in the affirmative part; it cannot copy the English after-verb position.
Practice
Try it yourself
Reorder each group into a connected sentence: no / la / Marta / encuentra / pero / busca / la; then ¿ / cuándo / les / tú / escribes / ? Omit tú in the natural final question.