Double Pronoun Order

Orden de dos pronombres complementos

Spanish double pronoun orderA Spanish sentence can have both a direct object and an indirect object pronoun. These "double object pronouns" cannot be separated, and the indirect pronoun always precedes the direct pronoun.

Nos lo da. He’s giving it to us.
  What is he giving? – It
To whom? – Us.
   
Te lo muestro. I’m showing it to you.
  What am I showing? – It.
To whom? – You.

Double object pronouns usually precede the verb(s) they modify. In the case of infinitives, present participles, and affirmative commands, they can get attached to the end – learn more.

Double object pronoun replacements

When a third person indirect object pronoun (le or les) precedes a third person direct object pronoun (lo, la, los, or las), the indirect pronoun must be changed to se. Context will let you know whether the se is replacing le or les.

le + 
les +		{lo
la
los
las		=se lo
se la
se los
se las

Por ejemplo …

Se lo da. He’s giving it to them.
Se lo muestro. I’m showing it to her.

Potential Spanish mistake

 This replacement is not optional; native Spanish speakers would never say le lo or les lo.

However, when se stands for les and is followed by the neuter pronoun lo, Spanish speakers in Latin America will often replace lo with los for clarification.

Spain: Nadie se lo dijo.
Latin Am: Nadie se los dijo.		 No one told them.
Spain: Se lo aseguro [a Uds].
Latin Am: Es verdad, se los aseguro.
 It’s true, I assure you.

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