Breakdown of Ellos me lo acaban de informar.
ellos
they
me
to me / me (direct object)
lo
it / him (direct object)
acabar de
to have just
informar
to report
Questions & Answers about Ellos me lo acaban de informar.
How does acaban de informar mean "have just reported" if acaban is in the present tense?
The phrase acabar de plus an infinitive verb like informar is a special formula used to say that something "just" happened. Even though acaban is in the present tense, this combination always translates to the recent past in English.
Why are the pronouns me lo placed before acaban instead of with informar?
When a sentence has a conjugated verb like acaban and an infinitive like informar, you have two options for pronoun placement. You can put them before the conjugated verb, as seen here, or you can attach them to the end of the infinitive, which would be acaban de informármelo. Both are completely correct and mean the same thing.
Could I say lo me acaban de informar instead?
No, the order of double pronouns is strict in Spanish. The indirect object, which is the person receiving the action (me), must always come before the direct object, which is the thing being acted upon (lo).
What exactly does lo refer to in this sentence?
The word lo translates to "it" and stands in for whatever information or news was just reported. Since it is a direct object pronoun, it replaces a masculine noun or a general idea that was mentioned earlier in the conversation.
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