| There is one topic that always seems to confuse my | | | | Ya le lo dije |
| students of the Spanish language, especially my | | | | That is NOT the correct way to say "I already told him |
| beginner students. And the topic is how to use Spanish | | | | it." |
| direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns in | | | | And you would NEVER say: |
| Spanish grammar when the two happen to appear in | | | | Le lo enviaron |
| the same phrase. | | | | That is NOT the correct way to say "They sent it to |
| Many students do not have much trouble when a | | | | him." |
| sentence or phrase contains only one or the other. But | | | | You must say: |
| the confusion begins when the same sentence or | | | | Ya se lo dije |
| phrase contains both direct pronouns and indirect | | | | "I already told him it." |
| pronouns. There are two fundamental rules that apply | | | | And you must say: |
| to the simultaneous use of direct object pronouns and | | | | Se lo enviaron |
| indirect object pronouns. | | | | "They sent it to him." |
| Here's rule number one: | | | | Did you notice that the indirect object pronoun le |
| Whenever you use both direct pronouns and indirect | | | | changed to se, because we used it in combination with |
| pronouns the indirect pronoun must come first. For | | | | "lo"? So keep in mind that anytime you use both direct |
| example: | | | | pronouns and indirect pronouns in the same sentence |
| Ya te lo dije (I already told you it). | | | | or phrase, the indirect pronoun must come first. And |
| Ya me lo enviaron (They already sent it to me). | | | | the indirect object pronoun le must change to se, |
| Here's rule number two: | | | | whenever you use it with lo, la, los, or las. If you keep |
| The indirect object pronoun le must change to se, | | | | these two grammatical rules in mind you will not have |
| whenever you use it with lo, la, los, or las. | | | | any trouble mastering this challenging area of Spanish |
| So you would NEVER say: | | | | grammar. |