Indirect object pronouns and se

An indirect object pronoun marks the person who receives the action or is affected by it — typically the one who gains or loses something. In Spanish, the third-person forms are le (singular) and les (plural). These pronouns sit before a conjugated verb and can appear alongside a full noun phrase that names the same person (clitic doubling). When le or les would appear immediately before a third-person direct-object clitic (lo, la, los, las), they must be replaced by se. This same se also appears in the dative-of-possession construction, where it signals that something happened to a body part or personal item belonging to someone.

• Giving, telling, showing, sending. Use le/les whenever the verb involves transferring something to (or from) a third party: dar, decir, mandar, mostrar, comprar, etc.

• Before a third-person direct-object clitic. When the direct object is also a pronoun (lo, la, los, las), le/les changes to se: «se lo doy», never «le lo doy».

• Clitic doubling with a named indirect object. When the indirect object is a name or a definite noun, Spanish normally requires both the pronoun and the noun phrase: «le di el libro a Juan» — not just «di el libro a Juan».

• Dative of possession. When something happens to a body part or personal item belonging to someone, Spanish uses se le/les plus a definite article instead of a possessive adjective: «se le cayó el vaso a Juan» (Juan dropped the glass / the glass fell on Juan), not «cayó su vaso».

The full set of indirect object pronouns is shown below. Only the third-person forms are the focus of this topic, but the complete paradigm is useful for contrast.

Clitic order when both an indirect and a direct object pronoun are present:

• Keeping le/les before lo/la/los/las. The sequence «le lo» or «les lo» does not exist in Spanish. Whenever a third-person indirect object pronoun meets a third-person direct object pronoun, the indirect form must become se. Say «se lo doy» and «se lo dije», not «le lo doy» or «les lo dije».

• Mixing up le/les with lo/la/los/las. Use le/les when someone is gaining or losing something (indirect object). Use lo/la/los/las for the thing itself (direct object). In «le robaron la cartera», the victim is «le» (indirect — the person affected), not «lo/la». «La cartera» is the direct object.

• Omitting the doubled clitic. When the indirect object is a name or a definite noun phrase, leaving out the pronoun sounds unnatural or incomplete. «Di el regalo a Juan» is possible but marked; the standard form is «le di el regalo a Juan».