Breakdown of Estoy leyendo el libro. No te lo muestro.
el libro
the book
no
no / not
leer
to read
estar
to be (location/state)
te
to you / yourself (reflexive) / you (direct object)
lo
it / him (m)
mostrar
to show
Questions & Answers about Estoy leyendo el libro. No te lo muestro.
Why is the order te lo instead of lo te?
When you have two object pronouns together in Spanish, the indirect object (who receives the action, te) always comes before the direct object (the thing itself, lo). A helpful trick is to remember 'people before things'.
Why does No go at the very beginning of No te lo muestro?
The negative word no must go directly before the pronoun block. You cannot separate the pronouns from each other, nor can you separate them from the conjugated verb. The strict order is No + indirect pronoun + direct pronoun + verb.
Why do we use lo in this sentence?
Why is the verb spelled muestro if the infinitive is mostrar?
Mostrar (to show) is a stem-changing verb in the present tense. The o in the stem changes to ue for the 'yo' (I) form. This is the same pattern you might remember from verbs like poder (puedo) or dormir (duermo).
Could I just say Leo el libro instead of Estoy leyendo el libro?
Yes, but they have slightly different focuses. Just like in English, estoy leyendo (present continuous) strongly emphasizes that you are in the middle of reading it right at this exact moment. Leo (simple present) can just mean you read it in general.
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