In Spanish, the little object pronouns — me, te, lo, la, le, nos, os, los, las, les, se — are called clitics. They cannot stand alone like English me or him; they always lean on a verb. The trouble for English speakers is that depending on the verb form, the clitic goes in front of the verb or fuses to the end of it. I see him is Lo veo. Look at him! is ¡Míralo! Same pronoun, opposite position. Get the placement wrong and the sentence breaks — sometimes mildly (it sounds foreign), sometimes catastrophically (it sounds like a different sentence).
This page covers all the placement rules, the order when two clitics combine, the famous le → se substitution, and the optional-placement zone with querer hacer, ir a hacer, estar haciendo that gives learners freedom but produces hesitation.
The core rule in one sentence
Clitic pronouns go BEFORE a conjugated verb but ATTACH to the end of an infinitive, a gerund, or an affirmative command.
Memorise this and you have ninety percent of the rule.
Lo veo todos los días en el autobús.
I see him every day on the bus. — conjugated verb (veo): pronoun goes before.
Quiero verlo antes de que se vaya.
I want to see him before he leaves. — infinitive (ver): pronoun attaches to the end.
Está mirándolo desde hace diez minutos.
He's been looking at it for ten minutes. — gerund (mirando): pronoun attaches to the end (note the accent on mirándolo).
¡Cómpralo ahora, está de oferta!
Buy it now — it's on sale! — affirmative command: pronoun attaches (note the accent on cómpralo).
Placement before conjugated verbs
When the verb is conjugated for a person and tense (present, imperfect, preterite, future, conditional, subjunctive — any finite form), the clitic sits immediately before it. Nothing can come between the clitic and the verb except another clitic or the negation no.
Te llamo esta noche, sobre las nueve.
I'll call you tonight, around nine.
Se lo dije ayer en la reunión.
I told it to him yesterday at the meeting. — two clitics together, both before.
No me gusta nada el café sin azúcar.
I don't like coffee without sugar at all. — 'no' comes first, then the clitic.
¿La has visto últimamente? Tengo ganas de saludarla.
Have you seen her lately? I'd like to say hi to her.
In the perfect tenses (he visto, había dicho, habré hecho), the clitic goes before the auxiliary haber, not between haber and the participle.
Lo he visto esta mañana en el supermercado.
I saw him this morning at the supermarket. — clitic before haber (he), never *he lo visto* or *he vistolo*.
No nos habían avisado del cambio de horario.
They hadn't warned us about the timetable change.
Attachment to infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative commands
When the verb form is non-finite — an infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir), a gerund (-ando, -iendo), or an affirmative command — the clitic fuses to the end of the verb and is written as a single word.
Infinitives
Voy a llamarte mañana sin falta.
I'll call you tomorrow without fail. — llamar + te → llamarte.
Antes de decirme la verdad, piénsalo bien.
Before telling me the truth, think it over carefully. — decir + me → decirme; pensar (command) + lo → piénsalo.
Es difícil verla así de triste.
It's hard to see her so sad.
Gerunds
When a clitic attaches to a gerund, a written accent appears to preserve the original stress.
Estoy esperándote desde hace media hora.
I've been waiting for you for half an hour. — esperando + te → esperándote.
Sigue diciéndome que no, pero yo sé que sí quiere.
He keeps telling me no, but I know he wants to. — diciendo + me → diciéndome.
Affirmative commands
Commands (the imperative mood) in their affirmative form attach the clitic. Most affirmative commands gain a written accent to keep the original stress.
¡Dímelo ya, no me hagas esperar!
Tell me already — don't make me wait! — di (imperative) + me + lo → dímelo.
Tráela aquí, por favor, que la quiero ver.
Bring her here, please, I want to see her. — trae + la → tráela.
Cómpralos los dos, no te arrepentirás.
Buy them both — you won't regret it. — compra + los → cómpralos.
The negative-command trap
Here is the placement rule that catches every learner at least once: negative commands do NOT attach the clitic. They revert to the standard pre-verb position. The structural difference between ¡Cómpralo! (buy it) and ¡No lo compres! (don't buy it) is the cleanest example in the language.
¡Cómpralo!
Buy it! — affirmative command, clitic attached.
¡No lo compres!
Don't buy it! — negative command, clitic before the verb.
¡Díselo a tu madre!
Tell it to your mother! — affirmative, attached.
¡No se lo digas a tu madre!
Don't tell it to your mother! — negative, before.
The placement flips entirely with the polarity of the command. This is not a stylistic preference — placing the clitic the wrong way produces an ungrammatical sentence that no native speaker would produce.
The optional-placement zone: verb + infinitive / verb + gerund
When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (quiero hacer, voy a hacer, puedo hacer, tengo que hacer, debo hacer) or by a gerund (estoy haciendo, sigo haciendo, voy haciendo), the clitic has two equally correct positions: before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive/gerund. Both are standard, both sound natural, and the meaning is identical.
Lo quiero hacer ahora mismo.
I want to do it right now. — clitic before the conjugated verb (quiero).
Quiero hacerlo ahora mismo.
I want to do it right now. — clitic attached to the infinitive (hacer). Same meaning, equally correct.
Te voy a llamar esta tarde.
I'll call you this afternoon. — clitic before the conjugated verb (voy).
Voy a llamarte esta tarde.
I'll call you this afternoon. — clitic attached to the infinitive. Equivalent.
Me estoy duchando, llámame en cinco minutos.
I'm in the shower — call me in five minutes. — pre-verb placement with estar + gerund.
Estoy duchándome, llámame en cinco minutos.
I'm in the shower — call me in five minutes. — attached placement. Equivalent.
The choice is largely stylistic. In rapid speech, the pre-verb position (lo quiero hacer) is slightly more common because it's lighter; in writing, both appear freely. Pick whichever feels easier and don't worry about it.
Combining two clitics: the order rule
When two clitics combine (indirect + direct object), the indirect object comes first, then the direct object. The whole group acts as a unit and follows the same placement rules.
| Order | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Reflexive + DO | Se lo compró | He bought it for himself |
| IO + DO | Me lo dijo | He told it to me |
| IO + DO | Te lo doy | I'm giving it to you |
| IO + DO | Nos los enviaron | They sent them to us |
Me lo dijo ayer en la cafetería.
He told me it yesterday at the café. — me (IO) + lo (DO), in that order.
Te las he comprado para tu cumpleaños.
I've bought them (the things, feminine plural) for you for your birthday. — te (IO) + las (DO).
The two-clitic group obeys the same placement rules as a single clitic: before a conjugated verb, attached to non-finite forms.
¿Puedes dármelo, por favor?
Can you give it to me, please? — dar + me + lo → dármelo.
Voy a explicártelo paso a paso.
I'm going to explain it to you step by step. — explicar + te + lo → explicártelo.
The famous le → se substitution
When le (or les) would be followed by lo, la, los, las, Spanish doesn't allow the combination le lo. The indirect object pronoun changes from le to se to avoid the awkward "le lo" cluster.
| Wanted | Becomes |
|---|---|
| le lo | se lo |
| le la | se la |
| les los | se los |
| les las | se las |
❌ Le lo dije ayer.
Ungrammatical — Spanish refuses the *le lo* cluster.
✅ Se lo dije ayer.
I told it to him/her yesterday. — le → se before lo.
Se lo expliqué a María, pero no me entendió.
I explained it to María, but she didn't understand. — se = a María; lo = the thing explained.
Se las regalé a mis hijas para Navidad.
I gave them (e.g. earrings, feminine plural) to my daughters for Christmas. — se = a mis hijas.
This se has nothing to do with reflexive se. It's purely a phonetic dodge to avoid le lo. The good news is that once you internalise the swap, it becomes automatic. The downside is the ambiguity: Se lo dije could mean "I told it to him, to her, to it, to them, to you (usted)" — Spanish often adds a clarifying a él, a ella, a usted, a ellos if the reference isn't obvious from context.
Se lo dije a él, no a ella.
I told it to him, not to her. — disambiguating the se with a él.
Where the no goes
When a sentence is negated, no sits before the clitic-verb group.
No te lo voy a decir, así que no insistas.
I'm not going to tell you — so stop insisting.
No me los han traído todavía, llevo esperando una hora.
They haven't brought them to me yet — I've been waiting an hour.
Compare with affirmative commands and the negative-command flip:
¡Dímelo!
Tell me! — affirmative, attached.
¡No me lo digas!
Don't tell me! — negative, before the verb.
Common Mistakes
❌ Veo lo todos los días.
Word-order error. With a conjugated verb, the clitic precedes — lo veo.
✅ Lo veo todos los días.
I see him every day.
❌ Lo voy ver mañana.
With voy + infinitive, the clitic must be either before voy (lo voy a ver) or attached to ver (voy a verlo). It cannot float between them.
✅ Lo voy a ver mañana. / Voy a verlo mañana.
I'm going to see him tomorrow. — both placements are correct; pick one.
❌ Se estoy levantando.
With estar + gerund, the clitic goes before estoy (me estoy levantando) or attaches to the gerund (estoy levantándome) — never between.
✅ Me estoy levantando. / Estoy levantándome.
I'm getting up. — both are valid.
❌ ¡No cómpralo!
Negative command takes pre-verb placement — never attached.
✅ ¡No lo compres!
Don't buy it!
❌ Le lo dije ayer.
Le + lo is forbidden. Le must change to se.
✅ Se lo dije ayer.
I told it to him yesterday.
❌ Quiero lo hacer ahora.
The clitic can be before quiero or attached to hacer — never floating between them.
✅ Lo quiero hacer ahora. / Quiero hacerlo ahora.
I want to do it now. — pick either valid position.
❌ Dame lo.
With an affirmative command, both clitics attach as one word, with an accent on the original stressed syllable.
✅ Dámelo.
Give it to me. — da + me + lo → dámelo (accent on the original á).
❌ He lo visto esta mañana.
With perfect tenses, the clitic goes before haber, never between haber and the participle.
✅ Lo he visto esta mañana.
I saw him this morning.
Key Takeaways
- Conjugated verb → clitic before (lo veo, te llamo, me dijo). Non-finite form → clitic attached (verlo, llamarte, mirándola, cómpralo).
- Negative commands flip back to pre-verb position. ¡Cómpralo! but ¡No lo compres!
- Order of two clitics: indirect before direct (me lo, te lo, se lo, nos los). The group moves together.
- Le → se before lo/la/los/las. Se lo dije, never le lo dije. Add a él / a ella / a usted to disambiguate if needed.
- Verb + infinitive and verb + gerund are optional-placement zones. Lo quiero hacer = Quiero hacerlo. Me estoy duchando = Estoy duchándome. Both are equally correct.
- Never split the clitic between the two verbs in those constructions — quiero lo hacer is wrong; voy lo a ver is wrong. Pick one position, not both.
- In the perfect tenses, the clitic goes before haber, never between haber and the participle. Lo he visto, never he lo visto.
- When you attach a clitic to a gerund or to a multi-syllable affirmative command, a written accent preserves the original stress: diciéndome, cómpralo, dámelo.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Posición del complemento directoA2 — Where direct object pronouns sit in the Spanish sentence — before a conjugated verb, attached to infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives — with the obligatory written accent that often follows.
- Posición del complemento indirectoA2 — Indirect object pronouns follow exactly the same placement rules as direct objects: in front of conjugated verbs, attached to infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative commands — and when both appear, the indirect always comes first.
- Orden de los pronombres: SE-TE-ME-LOA2 — When two or more object pronouns cluster before the same verb, Spanish always orders them the same way — and once you learn the mnemonic SE-TE-ME-LO, you never have to think about it again.
- Pronombres combinados con infinitivosB1 — When a verb phrase has a conjugated verb plus an infinitive, combined object pronouns can either sit before the conjugated verb (Me lo va a decir) or attach to the end of the infinitive (Va a decírmelo) — both are correct, but the accent on the attached form is non-negotiable.
- Cuando 'le' se convierte en 'se' (lo, la, los, las)B1 — When both le/les (indirect) and lo/la/los/las (direct) meet before the same verb, le/les obligatorily becomes 'se' — and this single rule explains the most common cardinal error of intermediate Spanish.
- Errores: 'a' personalA2 — Spanish requires the preposition 'a' before any direct object that is a specific person — 'veo a María', not 'veo María'. English has no equivalent, so English speakers consistently omit it. The complete rule with all the edge cases.