Indirect object pronoun with imperative

Question

One of the test questions was about the word order for this phrase and the following is considered incorrect: Por favor Marta, les trae unas copas de vino. Based on this lesson, I thought that the indirect object pronoun (les) could be placed before or after the imperative (i.e. traéles or les trae). Can you please explain the difference?

Silvia Piriz · Accepted Answer

Hola Lincoln H.
Great question! This is a common point of confusion. The issue comes down to the type of sentence you're dealing with.
In Spanish, when you're using an affirmative command, the indirect object pronoun (like les) must be attached to the end of the verb: for example, tráeles unas copas de vino. However, in your example  "les trae unas copas de vino", the sentence is in the present tense, not an imperative. So les correctly goes before the verb, but that structure doesn’t express a command.
If you want to politely tell Marta to bring the wine, you need to use the affirmative command form: Por favor Marta, tráeles unas copas de vino. That’s why les trae is considered incorrect in this context — it's not a command.
Hope that helps clarify the difference!
Un saludo
Silvia