Proclisis with finite verbs

Level 3

Weak pronouns normally precede a finite verb in statements and questions.

How It Works

El veig and hi anem put the pronoun immediately before the finite verb. If several words occur earlier in the sentence, the pronoun still stays with the verbal group: demà el veurem. A negative no comes before the pronoun.

The finite verb is the anchor even when an introductory phrase precedes it: després de dinar, el veurem. In a compound tense, the pronoun precedes the auxiliary rather than the participle: ja l'havíem vist.

The same order applies to questions: ho has entès? An explicit subject can occur elsewhere in the sentence without separating the pronoun from its verbal group. Affirmative imperatives remain the key exception, taking following attachment. For a group with an infinitive or gerund, check whether the construction allows the complete pronoun group to move; do not assume that every verb followed by another verb has identical placement options.

Examples (3)

  1. Demà els escriuré.

    Tomorrow I will write to them.

  2. Ja l’havíem vist.

    We had already seen him.

  3. En tens prou?

    Do you have enough of it?

How It Connects

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Proclisis with finite verbsLevel 3

Learn This First

Identify the finite auxiliary in a compound tense.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.