Plural Indirect Object With Direct Object Clitics

Level 6

With a plural recipient, retain els and add the separate definite direct-object pronoun.

How It Works

Els as a dative means to them, regardless of the recipients' gender. Add el, la, els or les for the definite thing given: els el dono, els la dono, els els dono, els les dono. The repeated els in els els has two distinct jobs.

With a plural dative, even a feminine group of recipients takes els. The direct-object form then supplies its own gender and number. Els la portarem can refer to bringing a feminine item to several women or men; els els portarem refers to masculine plural items for several recipients. An explicit recipient phrase can disambiguate the first mention, after which the formal two-pronoun cluster preserves the distinctions.

Examples (3)

  1. A les delegades, els la portarem demà.

    We will bring it to the delegates tomorrow.

  2. Els els portarem quan arribin.

    We will bring them to them when they arrive.

  3. Els les hem deixat al despatx.

    We have left them for them in the office.

How It Connects

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Plural Indirect Object With Direct Object CliticsLevel 6

Learn This First

Decode the two independent functions in a plural dative-accusative cluster.

Words in This Pattern