Double object pronouns in Spanish (A2)

Using double objects pronouns in Spanish implies working with direct object pronouns (D.O.P.), indirect object pronouns (I.O.P.) and reflexive pronouns and their collocations. So first at all, I advise you to review these topics individually (by clicking on the link) if you don’t feel very confident about them.

Anyway, you can find all these pronouns in the chart below.

Direct and indirect object pronouns collocation

In a sentence with a direct and an indirect object, normally we will write first the direct and after the indirect.

Fernando y Marta envían una carta a sus amigos (Fernando and Marta send a letter to their friends).

Nevertheless, when a verb has double object pronouns, D.O.P. with an I.O.P., the I.O. pronoun will be first.

Envían una carta (They send a letter).

Nos envían una carta (They send a letter to us).

Nos la envían (They send it to us).

¡Envíenosla! (Send it to us!)

¡No nos la envíe! (Don’t send it to us!)

Spanish double object pronouns in the third person

When the two object pronouns are third person pronouns (lo, la, los, las, le, les), the indirect object pronoun (le or les) is replaced by “se”.

Escribes una carta a tus amigos (You write a letter to your friends).

Les escribes una carta (You write a letter to them).

Se la escribes (You write it to them).

¡Escríbesela! (Write it to them!)

Where “se” is “tus amigos” (your friends) and “la” is “la carta” (the letter).

Reflexive pronouns with D.O.P.

Sometimes we can find a reflexive pronoun with a D.O.P. (never with an I.O.P.). In case this will be precisely the order, first reflexive, second D.O.P. Look at the examples.

Me lavo las manos (I wash my hands).

Me las lavo antes de comer (I wash them before eating).

Double object pronouns practice

You can practice everything you have learned in this lesson with the quiz below. Double object pronouns in Spanish are not easy to understand (even Spanish speaker made mistakes) and need a lot of practice.

Remember to contact your tutor if you have any questions about this topic or to ask for more activities. Don’t you have a Spanish personal tutor yet? Also, if you want to learn more about this topic, why don’t you ask for an individual tutorship.