Double Object Pronouns in Greek

In Brief

When two short object pronouns occur together in Greek, the indirect object comes first and the direct object comes second: μου το δίνει means “he/she gives it to me.” The pair normally stands before the verb, but it follows a positive command: Δώσε μου το! (“Give it to me!”).

Overview

Greek often replaces two already-known objects with two short pronouns: μου το (“it to me”), σου τον (“him to you”), or τους τα (“them to them”). These combinations are called double object pronouns. More precisely, they are clitics—short, unstressed words that depend closely on a verb and cannot normally stand alone.

To understand the pattern, separate the two jobs. The direct object is the person or thing directly affected by the action: in “I gave Maria the book,” the book is what was given. The indirect object is the recipient or person affected: Maria is the person who received it. Greek can replace both: Της το έδωσα—“I gave it to her.”

This pattern is introduced at A2 after the individual object pronouns. It matters because Greek uses these short forms constantly in ordinary conversation. English usually puts “it” before “to her,” but Greek puts the recipient pronoun first. Learning the Greek cluster as one rhythm—της το, not word-for-word from English—prevents the most common ordering error.

How It Works

The beginner rule: recipient first, thing second

The basic structure is:

indirect pronoun + direct pronoun + verb

• Μου το δίνει. — He/She gives it to me.
• Σου τον στέλνω. — I am sending him to you.
• Της τα έδειξα. — I showed them to her.

The indirect pronoun usually answers “to whom?” or “for whom?” The direct pronoun answers “whom?” or “what?” In grammatical descriptions of Greek, the indirect form is often called the weak genitive, while the direct form is the weak accusative. Genitive and accusative are cases—forms that mark a word’s role in the sentence. You do not need to memorise those labels to build the pattern correctly.

Indirect object forms

Recipient	Greek	Usual English meaning
to me	μου	to me / for me
to you (singular, informal)	σου	to you / for you
to him / it	του	to him / to it
to her / it	της	to her / to it
to us	μας	to us / for us
to you (plural or polite)	σας	to you / for you
to them	τους	to them / for them

These forms do not show whether the item being transferred is masculine, feminine, neuter, singular, or plural. That information belongs to the direct pronoun.

Direct object forms

Direct object	Singular	Plural
masculine	τον — him/it	τους — them
feminine	την — her/it	τις — them
neuter	το — it	τα — them

The direct pronoun agrees with the grammatical gender and number of the noun it replaces. Greek grammatical gender does not always match natural sex. For example, το βιβλίο (“the book”) is neuter, so “it” is το; η εφημερίδα (“the newspaper”) is feminine, so “it” is την.

• Δίνω το βιβλίο στη Μαρία. → Της το δίνω.
  I give the book to Maria. → I give it to her.
• Στέλνω τις φωτογραφίες στον Νίκο. → Του τις στέλνω.
  I send the photos to Nikos. → I send them to him.

Building the cluster step by step

Start with a full sentence:

Ο Γιάννης έδωσε τα κλειδιά στην Άννα.
Giannis gave the keys to Anna.

1. Replace στην Άννα with the indirect pronoun της.
2. Replace τα κλειδιά with the neuter plural direct pronoun τα.
3. Put the indirect pronoun before the direct one: της τα.
4. Place the cluster before the ordinary finite verb: Ο Γιάννης της τα έδωσε.

The order remains the same with every person and gender:

Indirect + direct	Meaning
μου το	it to me
σου την	her/it (feminine) to you
του τους	them (masculine) to him
της τα	them (neuter) to her
μας τις	them (feminine) to us
σας τον	him/it (masculine) to you
τους το	it to them

Some clusters repeat the same-looking form, such as τους τους (“them [masculine] to them”). It is grammatically possible, but speakers may repeat a noun or use a full phrase when the result would be hard to understand.

Position in statements and questions

In ordinary statements and questions, the pair stands immediately before the finite verb:

• Μου το λες τώρα; — Are you telling me now?
• Δεν μου το είπε. — He/She did not tell me.
• Πότε θα μας τα στείλεις; — When will you send them to us?
• Να σου το δείξω; — Shall I show it to you?

Words such as δεν (“not”), θα (future marker), and να (a particle used before dependent verb forms) come before the pronoun cluster. The cluster itself stays together directly beside the verb:

δεν + μου + το + είπε
θα + σου + τα + στείλω
να + της + το + δώσεις

With a compound tense, the cluster normally comes before the auxiliary—the helping verb that builds the tense:

• Μου το έχει δώσει. — He/She has given it to me.
• Θα σου τα έχω στείλει μέχρι αύριο. — I will have sent them to you by tomorrow.

Position with commands

A positive imperative—a direct affirmative command—places the pronouns after the verb. The indirect pronoun still comes first:

• Δώσε μου το! — Give it to me!
• Στείλτε μας τα! — Send them to us!
• Πες της το! — Tell it to her!

A negative command is built with μη(ν) + να and does not use the positive imperative form. Its pronouns return to the position before the verb:

• Μην μου το δώσεις! — Don’t give it to me!
• Να μην τους τα πεις. — Don’t tell them those things.

In writing, positive commands may show an extra accent on the verb or an apostrophe where a sound is dropped, as in δώσ’ μου το. Accent and spelling details vary with the exact verb form; the essential A2 rule is the placement: verb first, then indirect pronoun, then direct pronoun.

Examples in Context

Greek	English	Note
Μου το δίνει κάθε πρωί.	He/She gives it to me every morning.	μου recipient + neuter singular το
Σου τον στέλνω αμέσως.	I’m sending him to you right away.	masculine singular direct object
Μου τα έδωσε χθες.	He/She gave them to me yesterday.	neuter plural τα
Του το είπα ήδη.	I already told him.	Literally, “I said it to him”
Της την αγόρασα για τα γενέθλιά της.	I bought it for her birthday.	την replaces a feminine noun
Μας τις έδειξαν στο κινητό.	They showed them to us on the phone.	feminine plural τις
Θα σας το εξηγήσω αργότερα.	I’ll explain it to you later.	cluster follows θα
Δεν τους τα στείλαμε ακόμα.	We haven’t sent them to them yet.	cluster follows δεν
Να σου το γράψω σε ένα χαρτί;	Shall I write it down for you on a piece of paper?	cluster follows να
Πότε θα μου την επιστρέψεις;	When will you return it to me?	feminine noun understood from context
Δώσε μου το, σε παρακαλώ.	Give it to me, please.	after a positive command
Πείτε μας τα όλα.	Tell us everything.	τα refers broadly to “the things”
Μην της το πεις ακόμα.	Don’t tell her yet.	before the verb in a negative command
Ο Κώστας μού το έστειλε, όχι η Μαρία.	Kostas sent it to me, not Maria.	accented μού helps avoid ambiguity/emphasise the pronoun

English translations do not always preserve every pronoun literally. Του το είπα is word-for-word “I said it to him,” but natural English often says “I told him.” Greek still uses both short pronouns because το refers to the information that was said.

Common Mistakes

Reversing the two pronouns

• Wrong: Το μου δίνει.
• Right: Μου το δίνει.
• Why: Greek puts the indirect recipient before the direct object. English “gives it to me” encourages the opposite order, so learn μου το as a fixed sequence.

Choosing the direct pronoun from the English word “it”

• Wrong: Μου το έδωσε. when the understood noun is η τσάντα (“the bag”).
• Right: Μου την έδωσε.
• Why: English uses one form, it, but Greek direct pronouns agree with the noun: masculine τον, feminine την, neuter το.

Putting the cluster after an ordinary verb

• Wrong: Δίνει μου το.
• Right: Μου το δίνει.
• Why: After-verb placement belongs to positive commands, not ordinary statements. Compare Μου το δίνει with Δώσε μου το!

Using command placement in a negative command

• Wrong: Μην δώσεις μου το.
• Right: Μην μου το δώσεις.
• Why: Greek negative commands use μην and a να-type verb form, even when να is not stated. The pronouns therefore stand before the verb.

Forgetting that the indirect pronoun marks the recipient

• Wrong: Την το έδωσα. for “I gave it to her.”
• Right: Της το έδωσα.
• Why: “To her” uses indirect της. Direct την means “her” or replaces a feminine thing as the direct object.

Replacing unclear nouns too early

• Unclear: Τους τους έστειλα.
• Clearer: Τους έστειλα τους φακέλους. — I sent them the envelopes.
• Why: Pronouns work only when the listener can identify both referents. A formally correct cluster may still be confusing if the conversation has not established who or what each form represents.

Usage Notes

Double pronouns are normal in both speech and writing; they are not an unusually formal shortcut. In conversation, they avoid repeating information that both speakers already know. If the object is new or contrastive, a full noun phrase is often clearer: Της έδωσα το κόκκινο βιβλίο, όχι το μπλε (“I gave her the red book, not the blue one”).

Modern Greek frequently uses a short genitive pronoun for a person affected by an action, not only a literal recipient. Thus Μου το χάλασε can mean “He/She broke it on me,” expressing that the event affected or inconvenienced the speaker. At A2, first master clear transfer and communication verbs such as δίνω (give), στέλνω (send), λέω (say/tell), δείχνω (show), and γράφω (write).

Written accents sometimes distinguish an object pronoun from an identical unstressed possessive form or prevent a misleading reading. You may therefore see μού, σού, τού with an accent in contexts where the writer wants to make the pronoun’s role clear. This does not change the object order or meaning of the cluster.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of these points at A2, but you will meet them later.

Strong forms for emphasis and contrast

The short forms cannot carry strong contrast by themselves. Greek can add a full prepositional phrase, usually with σε, while retaining a short pronoun—a pattern often called clitic doubling, meaning that the same object is represented twice:

• Σ’ εμένα το είπε, όχι σ’ εσένα. — He/She said it to me, not to you.
• Της Μαρίας της το έδωσα. — It was to Maria that I gave it.

Such doubling is natural when identifying, contrasting, or bringing an object into focus. The exact choice and word order depend on emphasis and register, so beginners should recognise the pattern before trying to use every variation.

Ethical or affected-person uses

An indirect pronoun may show emotional involvement, benefit, loss, or inconvenience rather than a simple transfer:

• Μη μου το πετάξεις! — Don’t throw it away on me!
• Μου τα έκανε όλα άνω κάτω. — He/She turned everything upside down on me.

The English translation may omit “to me” because English expresses the speaker’s involvement differently. Greek keeps μου to show who is affected.

Ambiguity and style

Because several pronouns have the same shape, context carries a great deal of information. τους can be indirect “to them” or direct masculine plural “them.” In Τους τους έστειλα, the first is indirect and the second direct solely because of the fixed order. Speakers often avoid a heavy or ambiguous cluster by naming one object: Τους έστειλα τους γιατρούς (“I sent them the doctors”). Clear communication matters more than replacing every possible noun.

Practice Tips

1. Build clusters from nouns. Take sentences such as Δίνω το γράμμα στη Μαρία, underline the recipient and the thing, then replace them separately: της + το → Της το δίνω.
2. Practise by gender, not by English translation. Choose one masculine, one feminine, and one neuter noun—ο φάκελος, η φωτογραφία, το βιβλίο—and cycle through τον, την, το with μου, σου, του, της.
3. Say statement–command pairs aloud. Contrast Μου το δίνεις (“You give it to me”) with Δώσε μου το (“Give it to me”). This trains placement as rhythm rather than as an abstract rule.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Object Pronouns — learn the individual direct and indirect forms before combining them.