Combined Weak Pronouns in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan can place two or more weak pronouns together before or after a verb: me'l dona (“gives it to me”), se'n va (“leaves”), li ho dic (“I tell it to him or her”). Their order is not freely chosen, and spelling changes with apostrophes and hyphens. A practical core order is reflexive → recipient → thing → en/hi, although some third-person combinations have special and regional forms.

Overview

Weak pronouns (pronoms febles) are short, unstressed words attached closely to a verb. They can stand for a direct object (the person or thing directly affected), an indirect object (usually a recipient, as in “to her”), a reflexive element (“oneself”), a quantity or phrase with de, or a place or complement. English normally keeps these meanings in separate words—“give it to me”—where Catalan groups them: dona-me'l.

At B2, the challenge is no longer recognizing em, el, en, or hi on their own. It is deciding which meanings must be represented, arranging the pronouns in the conventional order, choosing the correct shortened forms, and putting the whole group in the right position. These combinations are extremely common in ordinary speech and writing, especially with verbs such as donar (“give”), dir (“tell”), portar (“bring”), anar-se'n (“leave”), and expressions containing en or hi.

The examples me'l va donar, se n'ha anat, li ho vaig dir, and te'ls porto demà show four central patterns: recipient plus direct object, reflexive plus en, indirect object plus neutral ho, and recipient plus a plural direct object. Master these patterns first; then add the less predictable third-person and regional combinations.

How It Works

Step 1: identify what each pronoun replaces

Do not begin by joining written forms. First work out the role of each element.

Meaning	Common forms	What they can replace
Reflexive or pronominal element	em, et, es, ens, us	oneself, or the fixed pronoun in a verb such as anar-se'n
Indirect object / recipient	em, et, li, ens, us, els	to/for me, you, him/her, us, you, them
Definite direct object	el, la, els, les	him, her, it, them when the noun is definite
Neutral direct object	ho	a fact, idea, clause, or neuter “it/that”
en	en	a quantity, “some/of it/of them,” or a complement introduced by de
hi	hi	a place, “there,” or certain non-person complements, often introduced by a or en

For example, in Porto els llibres a tu (“I am bringing the books to you”), els llibres becomes els and a tu becomes et. Together they produce Te'ls porto.

Step 2: put them in their conventional order

A useful working sequence is:

1. reflexive or pronominal se
2. first- or second-person participant (me, te, ens, us)
3. third-person recipient (li, els)
4. direct object (el, la, els, les, ho)
5. en or hi

Not every slot can be filled, and combinations of three pronouns are much less common than combinations of two. The following patterns cover most B2 needs.

Pattern	Separate meanings	Combined example
recipient + definite direct object	to me + it (masculine)	me'l
recipient + neutral direct object	to her + that	li ho
reflexive/pronominal + en	oneself + away/from there	se'n
participant + hi	you + there	t'hi
recipient + en	to us + some/of them	ens en
en + hi	of it + there	n'hi

This order differs from English. In “bring it to me,” it comes before to me; in Catalan, the recipient normally comes first: porta-me'l, not a word-for-word English order.

Step 3: use the combination forms

With em, et, and es, the vowel often appears as me, te, se when another pronoun follows. Apostrophes then mark the contraction.

First pronoun	+ el	+ la	+ els	+ les	+ ho	+ en	+ hi
em	me'l	me la	me'ls	me les	m'ho	me'n	m'hi
et	te'l	te la	te'ls	te les	t'ho	te'n	t'hi
es	se'l	se la	se'ls	se les	s'ho	se'n	s'hi
ens	ens el	ens la	ens els	ens les	ens ho	ens en	ens hi
us	us el	us la	us els	us les	us ho	us en	us hi

The noun represented by el/la/els/les controls gender and number:

• el document → me'l: Me'l pots enviar?
• la factura → me la: Me la pots enviar?
• els documents → me'ls: Me'ls pots enviar?
• les factures → me les: Me les pots enviar?

Use ho, not one of those four forms, for a whole statement or an unspecified idea: No entén que és urgent; li ho explicaré (“He doesn’t understand that it is urgent; I’ll explain it to him”). The form li ho stays as two words.

Third-person combinations need special attention

The neat recipient-first model becomes less transparent when both pronouns are third person. In much of central Catalan, li plus a definite direct object is represented by forms with hi: l'hi, la hi, els hi, les hi. Other standard and regional usage, especially Valencian, includes combinations such as li'l and li'ls. These forms are not interchangeable in every variety.

Intended meaning	Common central pattern	Example
it (masculine) to him/her	l'hi	L'hi donaré demà.
it (feminine) to him/her	la hi	La hi donaré demà.
them (masculine) to him/her	els hi	Els hi donaré demà.
them (feminine) to him/her	les hi	Les hi donaré demà.
that to him/her	li ho	Li ho explicaré.

Because spoken varieties differ, learn the model used in the Catalan you hear and follow the chosen standard consistently in formal writing. The transparent combinations li ho and els ho do not require the same replacement by hi: Els ho direm means “We will tell them that.”

Step 4: place the group before or after the verb

Pronoun groups normally go before a conjugated verb:

• Me'l dona cada matí. — “He/She gives it to me every morning.”
• No te'ls portaré avui. — “I won’t bring them to you today.”
• Se n'ha anat. — “He/She has left.”

They go after an affirmative imperative (a positive command), an infinitive (the dictionary form such as donar), and a gerund (the -ant/-ent form used for an ongoing action). Postverbal pronouns are connected with hyphens, with an apostrophe inside the group where required:

Verb form	Example	English
Affirmative imperative	Porta-me'l.	Bring it to me.
Infinitive	Vull portar-te'ls.	I want to bring them to you.
Gerund	Està explicant-li-ho.	He/She is explaining it to him/her.

A negative command uses the preverbal position: No me'l portis (“Don’t bring it to me”). With many verb phrases, especially a conjugated verb plus infinitive, both placements are possible: Me'l va donar and Va donar-me'l. Do not repeat the group in both places.

Apostrophes attach as far to the right as possible

When a verb begins with a vowel or silent h, the form next to it may contract:

• me'l dona → me l'ha donat
• se'n va → se n'ha anat
• te la porta → te l'ha portada

The important visual lesson is that the apostrophe may move within the sequence. Write me l'ha donat, not m'el ha donat. After the verb, use hyphens to join the verb and the pronouns: donar-me'l, explicar-li-ho, anar-se'n.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Me'l va donar.	He/She gave it to me.	me + masculine singular el
Se n'ha anat.	He/She has left.	Pronominal se + en in anar-se'n
Li ho vaig dir.	I told it to him/her.	Recipient li + neutral ho
Te'ls porto demà.	I’ll bring them to you tomorrow.	te + masculine plural els
Ens la reservaran fins divendres.	They will reserve it for us until Friday.	The reserved thing is feminine singular
No me les enviïs encara.	Don’t send them to me yet.	Negative command: pronouns before the verb
Porta-me'l quan puguis.	Bring it to me when you can.	Positive command: pronouns after the verb
Vol explicar-nos-ho personalment.	He/She wants to explain it to us personally.	Infinitive with ens + ho
Me n'han ofert dos.	They have offered me two of them.	en represents the counted item
T'hi acompanyaré després de dinar.	I’ll accompany you there after lunch.	et + locative hi
N'hi ha prou per a tothom.	There is enough for everyone.	Fixed, very frequent en + hi pattern
Els ho comunicarem per correu.	We will communicate it to them by email.	Plural recipient els + neutral ho
La hi deixaré aquest vespre.	I’ll leave it there/for him or her this evening.	Central pattern; context identifies the role of hi
Està enduent-se'ls sense permís.	He/She is taking them away without permission.	Gerund + pronominal se + plural object
Se me n'ha anat sense acomiadar-se.	He/She left without saying goodbye to me.	A three-pronoun sequence: se + affected me + en in anar-se'n

Common Mistakes

Copying English object order

• Wrong: Porta'l-me.
• Right: Porta-me'l.
• Why: Catalan normally puts the recipient before the definite direct object. English “bring it to me” is not a safe ordering model.

Using el for a whole idea

• Wrong: Li el vaig dir: que no vindria.
• Right: Li ho vaig dir: que no vindria.
• Why: A statement or clause is represented by neutral ho. El replaces a masculine singular noun.

Choosing the wrong gender or number

• Wrong: La carta? Te'l porto demà.
• Right: La carta? Te la porto demà.
• Why: The direct-object pronoun agrees with the noun it replaces: la carta requires la.

Putting a negative command after the verb

• Wrong: No porta-me'l.
• Right: No me'l portis.
• Why: Positive commands take attached postverbal pronouns, but negative commands place the group before the verb and use the appropriate negative command form.

Contracting at the wrong point

• Wrong: M'el ha donat.
• Right: Me l'ha donat.
• Why: Before a vowel, the apostrophe is placed as far to the right as the forms allow. Here el becomes l' directly before ha.

Treating colloquial els hi as a universal solution

• Wrong in careful writing: using els hi for every meaning involving “to them,” “them,” or “there.”
• Right: distinguish els ho (“that to them”), els en (“some/of it to them”), and other combinations according to meaning.
• Why: In some speech els hi covers several functions, but formal writing usually keeps distinctions that make the grammatical roles clear.

Usage Notes

Pronoun combinations are not especially formal; they are part of everyday Catalan. Avoiding them by repeatedly naming objects often sounds heavy: Vaig donar el llibre a la Marta is fine once, but after the book and Marta are established, L'hi vaig donar or the regional equivalent is more natural than repeating both nouns.

Spoken Catalan varies considerably in third-person clusters. Central speech often uses hi in combinations such as l'hi and may extend els hi beyond the distinctions maintained in careful writing. Valencian commonly preserves more transparent li + direct object combinations. Balearic and other varieties also have their own preferences. This is a point where listening to one consistent regional model is more useful than trying to force all speakers into a single spoken pattern.

Context matters because a small form may have more than one analysis. In La hi deixaré, hi can refer to a place (“I’ll leave it there”) or participate in a regional third-person combination (“I’ll leave/give it to him or her”). The surrounding conversation normally removes the ambiguity.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Three-pronoun sequences are possible, but they are constrained and often tied to particular constructions. In Se me n'ha anat sense acomiadar-se, se and en belong to anar-se'n, while me marks the person affected by the departure. Learn such sequences as meaningful patterns rather than generating every theoretically possible combination.

The position of pronouns in verb phrases also allows stylistic choice. Me'l va donar is generally neutral and very frequent; va donar-me'l places the group on the infinitive. With a gerund, compare M'ho està explicant and Està explicant-m'ho. Both can be grammatical, though rhythm, region, and the particular verb phrase affect what sounds most natural.

Past participles—the verb forms in -at, -ut, or -it used in compound tenses—raise an additional advanced issue. In modern Catalan, participle agreement with a preceding direct-object pronoun can be heard or written, especially with feminine objects: La carta? Me l'ha portada. Usage varies, and non-agreeing forms also occur in many contexts. The pronoun choice itself remains essential even when speakers differ over the participle ending.

Finally, combinations involving third-person recipients, definite objects, en, and hi form one of the most region-sensitive areas of Catalan grammar. At C1, it is worth learning the full written system and comparing it with the variety you speak. At B2, prioritize unambiguous high-frequency groups such as me'l, te'ls, se'n, ens ho, li ho, and els ho, while learning regional third-person forms through real input.

Practice Tips

1. Build from two full phrases. Start with Dono el llibre a la Joana. Underline el llibre and a la Joana, replace each separately, and only then combine and place the forms. This prevents English word order from taking over.
2. Drill one four-way agreement set. Use a single frame—Me'l porta / Me la porta / Me'ls porta / Me les porta—and change the noun each time. Repeat with te- and se- until gender and number feel automatic.
3. Transform placement, not meaning. Turn Me'l donarà into Vol donar-me'l and then Dona-me'l. Also make the negative command No me'l donis. This trains pronoun spelling and verb position together.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Pronouns En and Hi — review what en and hi replace before combining them with other weak pronouns.
• Next step: Advanced Weak Pronoun Patterns — extend these patterns to fuller combinations, regional forms, and detailed apostrophe and hyphen rules.