Breakdown of ¿Dónde está mi pasaporte? Lo he escondido en el cajón.
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
dónde
where
estar
to be (location/state)
mi
my
Questions & Answers about ¿Dónde está mi pasaporte? Lo he escondido en el cajón.
Why is lo placed before he, rather than attached to the end of escondido?
When using the pretérito perfecto (present perfect), object pronouns like lo must always go directly before the conjugated part of the verb haber (in this case, he). You can never put the pronoun between the two verb parts (he lo escondido is incorrect) or attach it to the past participle (he escondidolo is also incorrect).
Why do we use lo here instead of le or la?
Lo is a direct object pronoun meaning "it". It replaces mi pasaporte (my passport). Because pasaporte is a masculine singular noun, we must use the masculine singular pronoun lo to refer back to it.
Why use he escondido instead of the simple past tense escondí?
I know caja means "box". Is cajón ("drawer") related to it?
Yes! The suffix -ón is often added to Spanish words to mean "big". So, a cajón is literally a "big box", which makes perfect sense for a drawer built into a piece of furniture.