Pronouns are one of the things my students struggle with most. «Te lo compré», «Se me olvidó», «Dámelo»: two tiny words before or after the verb, and suddenly nobody knows which one goes first.
I'm José Cardoza, a native Spanish-speaking teacher who lives in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. In class I use a rule with a name to put them in order: R.I.D.
What R.I.D. means
When two pronouns go together, the order is always: Reflexive → Indirect → Direct.
- Te lo compré. te is indirect (for you) and lo is direct (the gift).
- Me la lavé. me is reflexive (myself) and la is direct (la cara).
- Se me olvidó. se is reflexive and me is indirect (it slipped my mind).
The three groups
| Person | Reflexive | Indirect | Direct |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | me | me | me |
| you (informal) | te | te | te |
| he / she / you (formal) | se | le | lo / la |
| we | nos | nos | nos |
| they / you (plural) | se | les | los / las |
I don't teach vosotros or os: in Costa Rica and almost all of Latin America, people use ustedes.
How to recognise each one
- Direct: what or whom receives the action. «Compré el pan» → «Lo compré».
- Indirect: to whom or for whom. «Compré pan para María» → «Le compré pan».
- Reflexive: the action comes back to the person who does it. «Me baño», «Te levantas».
The «le lo» trap
When le or les comes right before lo, la, los or las, it changes to se. «Le di el libro a María» → «Se lo di». You never say «le lo».
Where they go
- Before a conjugated verb: «Te lo doy», «No se lo digas».
- Attached to an infinitive, a gerund or a positive command: «Voy a dártelo» (or «Te lo voy a dar»), «Estoy explicándotelo», «Dámelo». Add the accent mark so the stress stays in the same place.
- With compound tenses, before haber: «Te lo he dicho», never «He te lo dicho».
The mistakes I see most
My students make every kind of mistake, and that's normal: the pronoun in the wrong place («Doy te lo»), the wrong pronoun («Lo di un regalo» instead of «Le di un regalo»), or in the wrong spot for the tense («He lo comprado» instead of «Lo he comprado»). R.I.D. and the rules about where they go fix almost all of them.
Exercise
Replace the words in bold with pronouns:
- Compré flores para mi mamá.
- Me lavo las manos.
- ¿Me das la llave?
- Vamos a mandar la foto a ustedes.
- Ya dije la verdad a mi jefe.
Answers: 1. Se las compré. 2. Me las lavo. 3. ¿Me la das? 4. Vamos a mandársela (or Se la vamos a mandar). 5. Ya se la dije.
Want to master pronouns?
If you want to learn more, write to me and take a class with me. I'll make you an expert in pronouns. You can start with the $12 online trial class.
Ser vs Estar: the DOCTOR and PLACE rules →
Por or para: when to use each one →
How the online classes work →
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