Se lo, se la: le + lo becomes se lo

Explication

When an indirect object pronoun (le or les) is immediately followed by a direct object pronoun (lo, la, los, las), Spanish replaces le/les with se. So le + lo never occurs; it becomes se lo: ¿Le diste el libro a Ana? — Sí, se lo di.

The order is fixed — indirect before direct — and the pair moves or attaches as a unit: se lo presté, se la mandé, se los enviamos; with commands and infinitives they glue on: dáselo, quiero dárselo. This se is purely a phonetic dodge; it is not the reflexive se.

Because se covers le and les (him, her, you-formal, them) all at once, it can be ambiguous, so Spanish often adds a clarifying a él / a ella / a usted / a ellos: se lo expliqué a ella. The tell-tale sign that you need this rule is two l-pronouns landing next to each other.

Exemples

Règles liées

• Indirect object pronouns: me, te, le, nos, os, les
• Where object pronouns go