Breakdown of ¿Te han robado la cartera? Sí, me la han robado.
sí
yes
me
to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)
te
to you / yourself (reflexive) / you (direct object)
la
it / her (f)
haber
to have (auxiliary)
la cartera
the wallet
robar
to steal
Questions & Answers about ¿Te han robado la cartera? Sí, me la han robado.
Why do the pronouns me and la go before han robado? Can they go between han and robado?
In Spanish, object pronouns like me and la must go before the conjugated verb. In the present perfect (pretérito perfecto), the verb is made of two parts: the helping verb han and the participle robado. You can never separate these two parts, so the pronouns must go right before han. You cannot say han me la robado or han robadomela.
In the reply me la han robado, what exactly do me and la stand for, and why are they in that order?
la refers to the wallet (la cartera) and is the direct object (the thing being stolen). me means 'from me' and is the indirect object (the person affected). When you use two pronouns together, the 'people' pronoun (indirect) always comes before the 'thing' pronoun (direct). So it is always me la and never la me.
The English translation says 'your wallet', but the Spanish sentence uses la cartera (the wallet). Why is it not tu cartera?
In Spanish, when talking about clothing, body parts, or very personal items like a wallet, you usually use the definite article (el, la, los, las) instead of possessive words like tu (your) or mi (my). The pronoun te in te han robado already makes it clear whose wallet is being stolen.
Why does it use han robado (they have stolen)? Does the speaker know who the thieves are?
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