Breakdown of El espía tiene que encontrar el código, pero no se lo reveles.
pero
but
no
no, not
tener
to have
encontrar
to find
Questions & Answers about El espía tiene que encontrar el código, pero no se lo reveles.
Why are se and lo before the verb here?
Because this is a negative command (do not reveal). With negative commands, object pronouns like se and lo must go before the conjugated verb (no se lo reveles). If it were an affirmative command (reveal it), they would attach to the end (revélaselo).
Who does se refer to in no se lo reveles, and why isn't it le?
se refers to 'to him' (el espía). Normally, the indirect object pronoun for 'to him' is le. However, when le comes right before another pronoun starting with 'l' like lo (which means 'it', referring to el código), Spanish changes le to se to make it easier to pronounce. So, instead of no le lo reveles, it becomes no se lo reveles.
Why does the verb reveles end in an 'e'? Isn't revelar an -ar verb?
Yes, revelar is an -ar verb. But for negative commands given to someone you address as tú, you swap the usual vowel. For -ar verbs, the ending changes from -as to -es. That is why 'you reveal' is revelas, but 'do not reveal' is no reveles.
The word ends in 'a'. Why does it use the masculine word ?