Combining Object Pronouns

When a sentence has both a direct object and an indirect object, you can replace both with pronouns. Spanish has specific rules for the order and form of these combined pronouns, and one important sound change you must know: le/les becomes se before lo/la/los/las.

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The Basic Rule: Indirect Before Direct

When two object pronouns appear together, the indirect object pronoun always comes first:

Indirect + Direct + Verb

• Me lo das. — You give it to me.
• Te la envío. — I send it to you.
• Nos los traen. — They bring them to us.

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The Se Transformation

Here is the most important rule in this lesson. When the indirect object pronoun is le or les and the direct object pronoun is lo, la, los, or las, the le/les changes to se: