Clitic Placement in Verbal Periphrases

Level 4

In many verbal periphrases, a pronoun cluster can stand before the finite verb or after the infinitive.

How It Works

Ho vull fer and vull fer-ho express the same object relation. The object belongs to fer, but the close verbal construction permits the pronoun to appear before vull. This movement is commonly called clitic climbing.

Move the whole grammatical cluster: te'l puc donar or puc donar-te'l. Do not split the two pronouns between different verbs. Their order remains stable, while apostrophes and hyphens change with their position.

Not every sequence of two verbs allows climbing. A separate finite que clause blocks this simple alternation, and lexical constructions differ in how closely they link their verbs. Check the actual periphrasis rather than moving any object across any preceding verb.

Examples (3)

  1. Ho vull explicar.

    I want to explain it.

  2. Vull explicar-ho.

    I want to explain it.

  3. Puc donar-te'l demà.

    I can give it to you tomorrow.

How It Connects

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

Clitic Placement in Verbal PeriphrasesLevel 4

Learn This First

Locate the preposed clitic of a finite verb before moving a cluster. Choose the basic two-clitic order before adding functions or changing spelling.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.