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Clitics ("object pronouns") in Spanish

In simple terms, a clitic is a special kind of "semi-word": something that grammatically behaves as a word, but is always "glued on to" the beginning or end of another word1. An example in English is -n't, as in don't, won't etc.

Like related languages such as French, Spanish uses a system of clitics for the object of a verb when that object is a pronoun. For many speakers, the overall system of clitics looks as follows:

Corresponding subject personDirect objectIndirect objectExample
yo
I
me
(to) me, (to) myself
él me preguntó si...
he asked me if...

you
te
(to) you, (to) yourself
te veo
I (can) see you
te doy un libro
I'm giving you a book,
I'll give you a book
él
he; (it)2
lo
him, it
le
to him/her/it
lo vi
I saw him
le di un libro
I gave him a book
ella
she; (it)2
la
her, it
la vi
I saw her
le di un libro
I gave her a book
él, la, ellos, ellas
he/she/it/they
se
himself, herself, themself, itself, themselves
se levantó tarde
he got up late
(lit "he got himself up")
nosotros, -as
we
nos
(to) us, (to) ourselves
nos cree
he/she believes us
nos dio un libro
he gave us a book
vosotros, -as
you (all)
os
(to) you, (to) yourselves
os cree
he/she believes you
ellos
they
los
them
les
to them
los vi ayer
I saw them yesterday
les di un libro
I gave them a book
ellas
they
las
them
las veo mañana
I('ll) see them tomorrow

1. In technical terms, we might say they are syntactically independent but phonologically dependent constituents.
2. 'it' appears in brackets here because it's actually rare to use these subject pronouns to refer to something inanimate.

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