Apostrophes in Clitic Clusters

Level 4

Spell a pronoun cluster as a unit, placing its apostrophe according to the whole combination.

How It Works

Pronouns keep a conventional order, but their written forms change beside vowels and other pronouns. Before a consonant, me + el becomes me'l; before a vowel, the cluster appears as me l’: me l'envia. The apostrophe is placed as far to the right as the established combination permits.

After an affirmative command, infinitive or gerund, use the appropriate hyphens and apostrophes: dona-me'l, donar-me'l, donant-me'l. Do not spell the same cluster identically before and after every verb form.

Hi and ho do not themselves elide. Learn such combinations as m'hi and m'ho as whole written groups rather than inserting an apostrophe between every pair of pronouns.

Examples (3)

  1. Me'l deixa demà.

    She is lending it to me tomorrow.

  2. Me l'envia avui.

    She is sending it to me today.

  3. Dona-me'l, si us plau.

    Give it to me, please.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Apostrophes in Clitic ClustersLevel 4

Learn This First

Choose the basic two-clitic order before adding functions or changing spelling.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.