Hello
I do not understand why you use « la » in this sentence?
Se la estamos decorando.
We are decorating it for him.
When there is an indirect pronoun in a sentence we use: me, te, le, nos, os, les. However when the indirect pronouns le and les (meaning to him / to her / to them) are accompanied by the direct pronoun lo, la, los or las (meaning it / them) then le and les become se to avoid a clumsy sounding le lo, le la, les los etc, which is tricky to pronounce. Listen to this example:
Remember that no matter how many different pronouns are used in the sentence, the indirect one comes first and the direct one comes after.
Listen to these examples:
No se lo dije.
I didn't say it to her.
Se la dimos.
We gave it to them.
Quiero comprárselos.
I want to buy them for them.
María está comprándoselos.
María is buying them for him.
No sabemos por qué se los ofrecieron.
We don't know why they offered them to them.
Note that se has a different position depending on the verb form.
With a conjugated verb, se is separate to the verb and in front.
Se la dimos.
With an infinitive, imperative or gerund, se comes straight after the verb form as part of the same word.
Quiero comprárselos. (infinitive)
Cómpraselos. (imperative)
Estoy comprándoselos. (gerund)
ATTENTION: When the gerund or infinitive are acompanied by a conjugated verb it is also correct to place the se in front of the conjugated verb, but never between the conjugated verb and the gerund or infinitive. Here are some examples to show the two possibilities:
No se lo puedo apretar.
I cannot tighten it for her.
No puedo apretárselo.
I cannot tighten it for her.
Here are some more examples:
Las zapatillas pónselas al lado de la cama.
The slippers, put them next to the bed for her.
No se los pagues, él tiene bastante dinero.
Don't pay those for him, he has enough money.
¿Por qué no se lo comunicaste antes?
Why didn't you let them know about it before?
Se lo daré cuando la vea.
I will give it to her when I see her.
El regalo, yo se lo dejé ahí.
The present, I left it there for him.
¿Crees que se lo habrá dicho ya?
Do you think she will have told him yet?
Pregúntaselo ahora mismo.
Ask her about it right now.
Estoy montándoselas en el salón.
I am putting them up for him in the living room.
See also:
Using lo, la, los, las = him, her, it, them (direct object pronouns)
Using le and les = [to] it,him, her, them (indirect object pronouns)
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Las zapatillas pónselas al lado de la cama.
The slippers, put them next to the bed for her.
Estamos decorándosela.
We are decorating it for him.
Estoy montándoselas en el salón.
I am putting them up for him in the living room.
María está comprándoselos.
María is buying them for him.
Se la dimos.
We gave it to them.
No puedo apretárselo.
I cannot tighten it for her.
Pregúntaselo ahora mismo.
Ask her about it right now.
No se lo dije.
I didn't say it to her.
El regalo, yo se lo dejé ahí.
The present, I left it there for him.
No se lo puedo apretar.
I cannot tighten it for her.
Se lo daré cuando la vea.
I will give it to her when I see her.
¿Por qué no se lo comunicaste antes?
Why didn't you let them know about it before?
Quiero comprárselos.
I want to buy them for them.
Se la estamos decorando.
We are decorating it for him.
No se los pagues, él tiene bastante dinero.
Don't pay those for him, he has enough money.
No sabemos por qué se los ofrecieron.
We don't know why they offered them to them.
¿Crees que se lo habrá dicho ya?
Do you think she will have told him yet?
Laura se lo compró.
Laura bought it for her.
Q&A Forum 4 questions, 7 answers
Hola Sylvie
In these two sentences from the lesson, (meaning the same):
Estamos decorándosela.
We are decorating it for him.
Se la estamos decorando.
We are decorating it for him.
"la" is referring to something, a noun, that is feminine singular, say for example the referent is "la habitación" (the bedroom):
Estamos decorando la habitación de Lucas.
Se la estamos decorando.
Estamos decoránsosela.
If the referent were a masculine singular noun, for example, "el dormitorio" which is also another word for "bedroom" but masculine, we would use the masculine pronoun "lo" instead:
Estamos decorando el dormitorio de Lucas.
Se lo estamos decorando.
Estamos decorándoselo.
I hope this clarifies it for you.
Un saludo
Inma
Sylvie asked:View original
La versus Lo
Hello
I do not understand why you use « la » in this sentence?
Se la estamos decorando.
We are decorating it for him.
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DougKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Verb and pronoun placement
Hi- I thought pronouns had to come before conjugated verbs. For example, I would think "Explain it to him well" would be translated either "Se lo explica bien" or, if a command, "Explicáselo bien". However, in the quiz for this section, the correct answer is verb se lo bien. Can the pronouns be placed after but seperate from the verb?
Thanks
Asked 1 month ago
InmaKwiziq team member
Hola Doug
Commands as you rightly said before should have the pronouns attached to them at the end, so for the command "explain it to him well" we need "explícaselo bien". We can not place them in front and separete to the verb. If they show up as three separate words, then we need to change it in the system as this would be incorrect. I am checking this and will get back to you.
Saludos
Inma
InmaKwiziq team member
Hi again Doug
I checked and it may be that the sentence shows a verb separated from the pronouns like this:
"explíca se lo". But I've changed the question in a way that everything is seen as one word "explícaselo". The latter is the correct way as it is in the form of a command and all pronouns should be attached a the end of the verb. Sorry about the confusion and thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Saludos
Inma
Doug asked:View original
Verb and pronoun placement
Hi- I thought pronouns had to come before conjugated verbs. For example, I would think "Explain it to him well" would be translated either "Se lo explica bien" or, if a command, "Explicáselo bien". However, in the quiz for this section, the correct answer is verb se lo bien. Can the pronouns be placed after but seperate from the verb?
Thanks
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EmanuelKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
How do I know that se lo compró does not mean
Asked 5 months ago
InmaKwiziq team member
Hola Emanuel
That sentence could actually mean both:
"Laura se lo compró" (Laura bought it for herself) [comprarse algo = to buy something for oneself]
or
"Laura se lo compró (Laura bought it for her/him/them) [comprar algo a alguien = to buy something for someone]
Saludos
Inma
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TomKwiziq community member
to or for
The confusing part is not se vs le for me but "to" vs "for." Your explanation was that an indirect object means to him/it, etc., but the example is "for him", which is very different in English. I think this needs to be explained. When I speak I usually try to clarify with "para mi" for "for me", but it may not be right.
Tom
Asked 7 months ago
InmaKwiziq team member
Hola Tom
The translation for these indirect object pronouns are normally "to him/her/them" as we state in the lesson. However, with verb "comprar" it is not possible to translate them as "to him/her/them", but their function in the sentence won't change. They will still be indirect object pronouns. In English you wouldn't say "I want to buy them to them", but "for them" for "Quiero comprárselos."
We could also use "para ellos" instead, so you are right when you say you normally use "para" for "for", so we could say the same sentence like this:
"Quiero comprarlos para ellos", but if we decide to use an indirect object pronoun for "para ellos" then we need "se".
I hope this clarified your doubt.
Saludos
Inma
Tom asked:View original
to or for
The confusing part is not se vs le for me but "to" vs "for." Your explanation was that an indirect object means to him/it, etc., but the example is "for him", which is very different in English. I think this needs to be explained. When I speak I usually try to clarify with "para mi" for "for me", but it may not be right.
Tom
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