To Me, To You, To Him, To Her, etc.: Indirect Object Pronouns II

You already know the indirect object pronouns:

meto me
teto you (informal, singular)
leto him, to her, to you (formal, singular)
nos      to us
osto you (informal, plural)
lesto them, to you (formal, plural)

And you know that that in affirmative statements they go before the verb:

  • Su marido le lee el periódico = her husband to her reads the newspaper = her husband reads the newspaper to her


In a negative sentence with one verb, the indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) is placed between the negative word (no, nunca, jamás, nadie, etc.) and the conjugated verb. This is the same pattern as sentences with a direct object pronoun. Compare these two sentences:

  • Su marido le lee el periódico  =  her husband to her reads the newspaper =  her husband reads the newspaper to her

    Su marido no le lee el periódico  =  her husband no to her reads the newspaper =  her husband does not read the newspaper to her


In statements with two verbs, there are two options for placing the indirect object pronoun: in front of the conjugated verb, or attached to end of the second, infinitive, verb:

  • Su marido (no) le va a leer el periódico =  her husband to her is (not) going to read the newspaper =  her husband is (not) going to read to her

    Su marido (no) va a leerle el periódico =  her husband is (not) going to read to her the newspaper


Another kind of sentence with two verbs has an -ing verb (gerund) as the second verb, and the indirect object pronoun can be placed before the conjugated verb, or attached to end of the second, gerund verb:

  • Su marido (no) le está leyendo el periódico = her husband to her is (not) reading the newspaper = her husband is (not) reading the newspaper to her 

    Su marido (no) está leyéndole el periódico = her husband (not) is reading to her the newspaper = her husband is (not) reading the newspaper to her


Neither word order is "better" or "more correct" than the other, and they are both used with equal frequency.
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