mo/ma/to/ta/lho/lha

Combined Object Pronouns

Level 4

Combined object pronouns fuse an indirect object (recipient) and a direct object (thing) into one word. For example, 'me' + 'o' becomes 'mo' (it to me).

How It Works

These combined forms are a hallmark of European Portuguese and formal writing. They follow a strict Indirect + Direct order.

1. The Fusion Logic:

  • me + o/a/os/as → mo, ma, mos, mas
  • te + o/a/os/as → to, ta, tos, tas
  • lhe + o/a/os/as → lho, lha, lhos, lhas
  • nos + o/a/os/as → no-lo, no-la, no-los, no-las
  • vos + o/a/os/as → vo-lo, vo-la, vo-los, vo-las

2. Placement:
These forms follow standard proclisis and enclisis rules. For example, in a negative sentence, the fusion comes before the verb: Não mo dês (Don't give it to me).

3. The 'Lho' Ambiguity:
The form lho can mean 'it to him', 'it to her', or even 'it to them' (since lhes + o also becomes lho). To clarify, speakers often add a prepositional phrase like a eles or a ela at the end of the sentence.

4. Regional Usage:
In European Portuguese, these are common in daily speech. In Brazilian Portuguese, they are almost never used in speech; Brazilians prefer to use a prepositional phrase (e.g., deu para mim) or simply drop the direct object pronoun entirely.

Examples (5)

  1. O livro? O João deu-mo ontem.

    The book? João gave it to me yesterday.

    Word by Word: The book? The João gave-me-it yesterday.

    Here, 'me' (to me) and 'o' (it) fuse into 'mo' and attach to the verb with a hyphen.

  2. Se tens a chave, por que não ma entregas?

    If you have the key, why don't you hand it to me?

    Word by Word: If you have the key, why not me-it you-hand-over?

    In this question, the pronoun 'ma' (me + a) moves before the verb due to the question word 'por que'.

  3. Eu já lho disse a eles.

    I already told it to them.

    Word by Word: I already to-them-it said to them.

    Note that 'lho' represents 'lhes + o'. The phrase 'a eles' is added to clarify that 'lho' refers to 'them' and not 'him' or 'her'.

  4. Eles não to querem vender.

    They don't want to sell it to you.

    Word by Word: They not to-you-it want to-sell.

    The negative 'não' attracts the fused pronoun 'to' (te + o) to the proclitic position before the auxiliary verb.

  5. Nós damo-no-lo se pedires.

    We give it to ourselves if you ask.

    Word by Word: We give-us-it if you-ask.

    When using 'nos', the internal hyphen is kept (no-lo). Also, the final 's' of 'damos' is dropped before the pronoun.

Common Mistakes

  • Using separate clitics instead of fusing them.

    Ele deu-me-o.
    Ele deu-mo.

    In Portuguese, you cannot 'stack' clitic pronouns separately like in Spanish; they must be fused into a single form.

  • Reversing the order of objects.

    Ele o-me deu.
    Ele mo deu.

    The indirect object (recipient) must always come before the direct object (thing) in the fusion.

  • Using 'lhos' to mean 'to them' with a singular object.

    Eu lhos dei (meaning 'I gave it to them').
    Eu lho dei a eles.

    The 's' in 'lhos' refers to the direct object (the things given), not the recipients. If the object is singular, use 'lho' even if the recipients are plural.

How It Connects

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

mo/ma/to/ta/lho/lhaLevel 4Combined Object Pronouns

Learn This First

Combined object pronouns (mo, lha, etc.) are contractions of an indirect object pronoun and a direct object pronoun. To understand them, a learner must already be familiar with both sets of pronouns and how they function independently in a sentence.

Words in This Pattern

momatotalholha