¡Hola, amigo! In this post, you’ll learn how to use the Spanish imperative with two pronouns. If you need to review how to use the imperative with just one pronoun, click here.
You probably already know how to say ¡Dame! (“Give me!”). Now you’ll learn how to form expressions such as ¡Dámelo! (“Give it to me!”). In other words, this post explains how to use the imperative when a sentence contains both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun.
POSITIVE COMMANDS
When we give a positive command in Spanish with two pronouns, the verb comes first, followed by the indirect object pronoun and then the direct object pronoun. All three elements are written as a single word. For example:
| SUBJECT | WITHOUT PRONOUN | WITH PRONOUN |
|---|---|---|
| (TÚ) | ¡DA! (GIVE!) | ¡DÁSELO! (GIVE IT TO!) |
| (USTED) | ¡DÉ! (GIVE!) | ¡DÉSELO! (GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (NOSOTROS) | ¡DEMOS! (LET’S GIVE!) | ¡DÉMOSELO! (LET’S GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (USTEDES) | ¡DEN! (GIVE!) | ¡DÉNSELO! (GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (VOSOTROS) | ¡DAD! (GIVE!) | ¡DÁDSELO! (GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
In the case of nosotros, if the command ends in s and we add se or nos after that, we must drop the s:
Let’s give it to him! ¡démosselo! ¡démoselo!
NEGATIVE COMMANDS
When we give a negative command in Spanish with two pronouns, the indirect object pronoun comes before the direct object pronoun, and the verb comes after both of them. Each element is written as a separate word. For example:
| SUBJECT | WITHOUT PRONOUN | WITH PRONOUN |
|---|---|---|
| (TÚ) | ¡NO DES! (DON’T GIVE!) | ¡NO SE LO DES! (DON’T GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (USTED) | ¡NO DÉ! (DON’T GIVE!) | ¡NO SE LO DÉ! (DON’T GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (NOSOTROS) | ¡NO DEMOS! (LET’S NOT GIVE!) | ¡NO SE LO DEMOS! (LET’S NOT GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (USTEDES) | ¡NO DEN! (DON’T GIVE!) | ¡NO SE LO DEN! (DON’T GIVE IT TO HIM!) |
| (VOSOTROS) | ¡NO DEIS! (DON’T GIVE!) | ¡NO SE LO DEIS! (DON’T GIVE HIM/HER/IT!) |
Now, let’s play this game so you become an expert!
