How do Spanish object pronouns like lo, la, le and se work?
By Mert Yerekapan · Updated
Object pronouns replace nouns you've already mentioned. Lo and la replace the thing or person directly affected by the verb (the direct object), and le replaces the person who receives it (the indirect object). When both appear together, le turns into se: Se lo doy (I give it to him). They go right before the conjugated verb.
Direct objects: lo, la, los, las
The direct object answers "what?" or "whom?". Match gender and number:
| Pronoun | Replaces | Example |
|---|---|---|
| lo | masculine singular (or "it") | Veo el coche. Lo veo. (I see it) |
| la | feminine singular | Compro la leche. La compro. (I buy it) |
| los | masculine plural | Conozco a los vecinos. Los conozco. (I know them) |
| las | feminine plural | Leo las cartas. Las leo. (I read them) |
The other direct pronouns are me, te, nos, os: Te quiero (I love you), Me ves (You see me).
Indirect objects: le and les
The indirect object answers "to whom?" or "for whom?". It's the person receiving or benefiting:
- Le doy el libro a Ana. (I give the book to Ana.)
- Les escribo a mis padres. (I write to my parents.)
- ¿Me explicas esto? (Can you explain this to me?)
Le and les don't change for gender. The same pronouns me, te, nos, os also work as indirect objects.
When you use both: le becomes se
Two pronouns in a row appear in a fixed order: indirect first, direct second. But two pronouns starting with l sound clumsy, so le and les become se before lo, la, los, las:
- Le doy el libro becomes Se lo doy. (I give it to him/her.)
- Les mando las fotos becomes Se las mando. (I send them to them.)
- Me das el café becomes Me lo das. (You give it to me.)
This se has nothing to do with reflexive se. It's a replacement for le/les, and it's the single biggest source of confusion. If you see se lo or se la, it almost always means "to him/her/them, it".
Where do they go?
- Before a conjugated verb: Lo compré (I bought it)
- Attached to an infinitive or -ando form: Quiero comprarlo (I want to buy it), Estoy comiéndolo (I'm eating it)
- Attached to positive commands: ¡Cómpralo! (Buy it!)
- Before negative commands: ¡No lo compres! (Don't buy it!)
With two pronouns attached, add a written accent to keep the stress where it was: Quiero dártelo (I want to give it to you), Dímelo (Tell me it).
Common mistakes
- Dropping the pronoun when English would say "it": Veo alone doesn't work. You need Lo veo.
- Using le for a direct object person in Spain, which is common (leísmo): Le vi ayer (I saw him yesterday). It's accepted there, but lo is the standard textbook form elsewhere.
- Saying Le lo doy. It must be Se lo doy.
How to practice
My honest advice: don't try to fully analyze every sentence. Learn the pairs me lo, te lo, se lo as chunks and listen for them in stories and shows. They show up constantly. Full disclosure, I built Langtok, but its word-by-word subtitles are handy for this: you see se lo highlighted the moment you hear it. When you're ready for more, why me gusta works backwards shows these pronouns in action.