Direct Object Pronouns with Commands | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Commands are the one place in Spanish where pronoun placement is rigid, not flexible. Affirmative commands force the pronoun to attach to the verb. Negative commands force it to sit before the verb. There are no alternative positions.

Affirmative commands: attach the pronoun

In a positive command, any object pronoun gets glued to the end of the verb. In writing, it becomes one word.

¡Cómelo!

Eat it! (come + lo = cómelo)

¡Llámala!

Call her! (llama + la = llámala)

¡Ciérralas!

Close them! (cierra + las = ciérralas)

¡Ayúdame!

Help me!

Notice the written accent on most of these. Attaching a pronoun adds a syllable, and Spanish must preserve the original stress with an accent mark.

Why the accent?

A single command word like come is already stressed on the first syllable: CO-me. When you add -lo, you get three syllables: CO-me-lo. Without an accent, Spanish spelling rules would put the stress on me, which is wrong. The accent keeps it where it belongs.

Command	pronoun	Stress
come	cómelo	CÓ-me-lo
escribe	escríbelo	es-CRÍ-be-lo
llama	llámala	LLÁ-ma-la
di	dilo	DI-lo (one syllable → no accent needed)

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Quick accent rule: if the command-plus-pronoun has more than two syllables, almost always add an accent on the originally stressed syllable. Single-syllable commands like di and ve stay unaccented when only one pronoun is added.

Negative commands: pronoun stays in front

In a negative command, the pronoun goes before the verb, just like with a simple indicative. The word no comes first, then the pronoun, then the verb.

¡No lo comas!

Don't eat it! (Pattern: no + lo + verb.)

¡No la llames!

Don't call her!

¡No las cierres!

Don't close them!

¡No me ayudes!

Don't help me!

No attachment, no accent. The pronoun never touches the verb directly.

Side-by-side comparison

Affirmative	Negative	Meaning
¡Cómelo!	¡No lo comas!	Eat it! / Don't eat it!
¡Léela!	¡No la leas!	Read it! / Don't read it!
¡Cómpralos!	¡No los compres!	Buy them! / Don't buy them!
¡Llámame!	¡No me llames!	Call me! / Don't call me!

All four registers of command

Spanish has different command forms for tú, usted, nosotros, and ustedes. The placement rule is the same across all of them.

Tú (informal singular)

¡Escúchame!

Listen to me! (tú command.)

Usted (formal singular)

¡Escúcheme!

Listen to me! (usted command — note the 'e' ending.)

Nosotros (let's...)

¡Escuchémoslo!

Let's listen to it! (nosotros command.)

Ustedes (plural)

¡Escúchenlo!

Listen to it! (ustedes command.)

With voseo commands

In voseo regions (Argentina, Uruguay, Central America), affirmative vos commands use a final-stressed infinitive-derived form, then attach the pronoun normally.

¡Decímelo!

Tell me! (vos command from decí + me + lo.)

¡Miralo!

Look at it! (vos command — note: mirá → miralo, no accent on mirá once pronoun attaches in standard spelling.)

For more about voseo, see Vos and Voseo in Latin America.

Keep the pronoun where it belongs

Do not drop the pronoun just because a command already implies urgency, and do not separate it from the verb.

❌ ¡Cómelo no!

Wrong. Negative commands put no first: '¡No lo comas!'

❌ ¡No cómelo!

Wrong. Never attach the pronoun to a negative command.

❌ ¡Lo come!

Wrong. Affirmative commands attach: '¡Cómelo!'

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The hardest thing for English speakers is the affirmative–negative flip. An easy trick: say the affirmative and negative back-to-back aloud until your mouth learns the pattern: ¡Cómelo! ¡No lo comas! ¡Cómelo! ¡No lo comas!

Affirmative plus two pronouns

If the affirmative command takes both a direct and an indirect pronoun, they both attach. You usually need an accent, and if le/les meets lo/la/los/las, le/les turns into se.

¡Dímelo!

Tell it to me! (di + me + lo.)

¡Dáselo!

Give it to him/her! (da + se + lo; 'le' → 'se'.)

¡Cómpraselos!

Buy them for her! (compra + se + los.)

See Combined Pronouns with Commands for the full picture.

Summary

Affirmative commands: pronoun attaches to the verb (one word) — usually with a written accent.
Negative commands: pronoun sits before the verb, after no.
The rule is the same for tú, usted, nosotros, and ustedes commands.
When two pronouns attach at once, the accent is almost always needed.

Next section: Indirect Object Pronouns.