Indirect Object Pronouns in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan uses em, et, li, ens, us and els to show who receives something or who is told, shown, asked or given something: Li he donat un regal means “I gave him/her a gift.” Put the pronoun before a conjugated verb (li dic) but attach it after an infinitive or affirmative command (dir-li, digues-li). The third-person forms do not show gender: li can mean “to him” or “to her,” and els means “to them.”

Overview

An indirect object is usually the person who receives something or is affected as the recipient of an action. In “I gave Marta the keys,” Marta is the person receiving the keys. English may put the person straight after the verb (“I gave Marta the keys”) or use to (“I gave the keys to Marta”). Catalan can express that same role with an indirect object weak pronoun: a short, unstressed word placed closely beside the verb.

This is an A2 topic because the basic system is small and highly reusable. Once you know six forms, you can use them with everyday verbs such as donar “give,” dir “tell,” explicar “explain,” ensenyar “show/teach,” demanar “ask for,” escriure “write” and telefonar “phone.” The pronoun often corresponds to English “to me,” “to her” or “to them,” but English does not always include to: Em pots dir l’hora? is naturally “Can you tell me the time?”

The main challenge is not memorising the list. It is learning to identify the recipient, distinguish indirect objects from direct objects, and place the pronoun correctly around different verb forms. Start with the beginner rule in the next section; later sections explain duplication, verbs such as agradar, and combinations with other weak pronouns.

How It Works

The six core forms

Person	Pronoun	Usual English meaning	Example
first-person singular	em / m’	to me, for me	Em diu la veritat. — “He/She tells me the truth.”
second-person singular	et / t’	to you	Et porto un cafè. — “I’m bringing you a coffee.”
third-person singular	li	to him, to her, to you (formal)	Li escric cada setmana. — “I write to him/her every week.”
first-person plural	ens	to us, for us	Ens expliquen el problema. — “They explain the problem to us.”
second-person plural	us	to you all	Us ensenyaré la casa. — “I’ll show you the house.”
third-person plural	els	to them, to you (formal plural)	Els demano ajuda. — “I ask them for help.”

Only em and et change before a vowel sound: m’ and t’. Thus, m’explica means “he/she explains to me,” and t’han donat means “they have given you.” Li never becomes l’: write li he dit, not l’he dit, when the meaning is “I have told him/her.”

Unlike English him and her, li does not reveal gender. Context tells you who is meant. Likewise, els covers any group: men, women or a mixed group. In formal address, vostè takes li, while vostès takes els.

Finding the indirect object

A useful beginner test is to ask “to whom?” or “for whom?” after the verb:

• Dono les claus a la Núria. — I give the keys to Núria.
• To whom do I give the keys? To Núria.
• Replace a la Núria with li: Li dono les claus.

The thing transferred is usually the direct object (the person or thing directly acted on): les claus. The recipient is the indirect object: a la Núria. This contrast matters because Catalan uses different third-person pronouns for the two roles.

Meaning	Direct object	Indirect object
I see Marta.	La veig.	—
I speak to Marta.	—	Li parlo.
I know Pau.	El conec.	—
I give Pau the book.	El llibre is direct; Pau is indirect.	Li dono el llibre.

Do not rely only on whether English uses to. Learn the Catalan verb pattern. For example, Catalan uses an indirect object with telefonar a algú: Li telefono demà means “I’ll phone him/her tomorrow.” English has no to in that sentence.

Position before a conjugated verb

The normal position is immediately before a conjugated verb (a verb form that shows tense and person):

• Li dono el llibre. — “I give him/her the book.”
• No els expliquem el final. — “We aren’t telling them the ending.”
• M’ha escrit aquest matí. — “He/She wrote to me this morning.”

In a compound tense, place the pronoun before the auxiliary—the conjugated helping verb—not between the auxiliary and the participle: Li he dit la veritat. A participle is the verb form used here with haver, such as dit “said/told” or donat “given.”

With a conjugated modal verb plus an infinitive, both of these patterns are possible:

• Em pots dir l’hora?
• Pots dir-me l’hora?

Both mean “Can you tell me the time?” Keep the pronoun with one verb or the other; do not say Em pots dir-me for the same single recipient.

Position after an infinitive, gerund or affirmative command

Attach the pronoun to an infinitive (the dictionary form, such as dir “to say/tell”), a gerund (the -ant or -ent form expressing an ongoing action) or an affirmative command:

Verb environment	Pattern	Example
infinitive	verb + pronoun	Vull explicar-li la situació. — “I want to explain the situation to him/her.”
gerund	verb + pronoun	Estic ensenyant-los el pis. — “I’m showing them the flat.”
affirmative command	verb + pronoun	Digues-li la veritat. — “Tell him/her the truth.”
negative command	pronoun + verb	No li diguis res. — “Don’t tell him/her anything.”

The forms can look different when attached: dir-me, explicar-te, donar-li, escriure’ns, mostrar-vos, dir-los. After some vowel-ending forms, shorter spellings appear, such as dona’m “give me,” explica’ns “explain to us,” and dona’ls “give them.” Apostrophes and hyphens are part of the spelling, not optional punctuation.

Common verbs and sentence patterns

A productive pattern is:

indirect object pronoun + verb + thing/message

• Li dono un regal. — I give him/her a gift.
• Els explico el problema. — I explain the problem to them.
• Ens ensenyen el camí. — They show the way to us.
• Et demano un favor. — I ask you for a favour.

The “thing” need not be a physical object. It can be information, a story, a question, permission or help. With dir, Catalan often uses a before a full recipient phrase: Ho dic a la directora. With a pronoun, that phrase becomes Li ho dic—although combinations of two weak pronouns belong to a later stage.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Li he donat un regal.	I gave him/her a gift.	li is the singular recipient.
Em pots dir l’hora?	Can you tell me the time?	em comes before the conjugated modal.
Ens han ensenyat el camí.	They showed us the way.	The pronoun precedes the auxiliary han.
Què els has dit?	What did you tell them?	els is the plural recipient.
T’explicaré tot demà.	I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow.	et becomes t’ before a vowel.
La Júlia li escriu cada setmana.	Júlia writes to him/her every week.	escriure a algú takes an indirect object.
Us portem una mica d’aigua.	We’re bringing you all some water.	us addresses more than one person.
Pots deixar-me el bolígraf?	Can you lend me the pen?	The pronoun is attached to the infinitive.
No li demanis diners.	Don’t ask him/her for money.	A negative command puts li before the verb.
Dona’ls les entrades, si us plau.	Give them the tickets, please.	Affirmative command; els becomes attached ’ls.
Estic explicant-li com funciona.	I’m explaining to him/her how it works.	The pronoun is attached to the gerund.
A mi m’agrada molt aquest barri.	I really like this neighbourhood.	Literally, the neighbourhood is pleasing “to me.”
A la Carla li sembla bé la proposta.	Carla thinks the proposal is fine.	The strong phrase identifies the person clearly.
Els telefonarem després de sopar.	We’ll phone them after dinner.	Catalan treats the person called as indirect.

Common Mistakes

Using a direct object pronoun for a recipient

• Wrong: La dono un llibre.
• Right: Li dono un llibre.
• Why: The book is what is given; “her” is the recipient. Use indirect li, not direct feminine la.

Making li agree with gender

• Wrong: La explico el problema when you mean “I explain the problem to her.”
• Right: Li explico el problema.
• Why: Indirect li is the same for a man and a woman. Catalan does not have separate indirect forms equivalent to English “to him” and “to her.”

Apostrophising li before a vowel

• Wrong: L’he explicat el problema for “I explained the problem to him/her.”
• Right: Li he explicat el problema.
• Why: Li does not lose its vowel. Moreover, l’he explicat normally contains a direct object meaning “I have explained it.”

Putting the pronoun between the auxiliary and participle

• Wrong: He li dit la veritat.
• Right: Li he dit la veritat.
• Why: In a compound tense, the weak pronoun goes before the conjugated auxiliary he, has, ha, hem, heu, han.

Using the same pronoun twice with a modal

• Wrong: Et vull explicar-te una cosa.
• Right: Et vull explicar una cosa. / Vull explicar-te una cosa.
• Why: With a modal plus infinitive, choose one allowed position. Repeating the pronoun accidentally creates an unnecessary double expression.

Putting the pronoun after a negative command

• Wrong: No diguis-li això.
• Right: No li diguis això.
• Why: Attach pronouns to affirmative commands, but place them before negative commands.

Usage Notes

Catalan often uses a full a + person phrase when the recipient must be named: Dono el paquet a l’Arnau. A weak pronoun can then refer back to that person in later sentences: Li dono també la carta. In everyday speech, you will also hear the recipient expressed both by a pronoun and by a full phrase, especially when the phrase clarifies or emphasises who is meant: A l’Arnau li dono el paquet or Li dono el paquet, a l’Arnau. This is called clitic doubling—the short pronoun and the full phrase point to the same person.

With stressed personal forms such as a mi and a tu, the weak pronoun is normally present too: A mi em sembla bé and A tu et toca pagar. The full phrase adds contrast or emphasis; it does not replace the weak pronoun. English speakers sometimes omit it because “to me” already feels complete in English.

Several frequent Catalan verbs organise the sentence differently from their usual English translation. In M’agrada aquesta cançó, the song is grammatically what produces the pleasing effect, while m’ marks the person experiencing it. Similarly, Li interessa la història means “He/She is interested in history,” and Ens sembla fàcil means “It seems easy to us.” Do not force English subject order onto these patterns; learn the whole Catalan frame.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master pronoun combinations at A2, but you will soon encounter sentences containing both a direct and an indirect object pronoun. Instead of repeating “the book” and “to Marta,” Catalan can replace both parts: compare Dono el llibre a la Marta with a form meaning “I give it to her.” The exact combination and order—especially third-person combinations—varies across Catalan varieties and registers. Learn the combination system as its own topic rather than building it by simply placing two beginner forms side by side.

One useful contrast is already safe to recognise. Li is unambiguously indirect, but els can be either an indirect plural pronoun (“to them”) or a masculine plural direct pronoun (“them”). The verb and the rest of the sentence resolve the meaning:

• Els dono les claus. — “I give them the keys.” Here els is indirect.
• Els veig cada dia. — “I see them every day.” Here els is direct.

Indirect object pronouns do not cause past-participle agreement. Write Li he donat les claus: donat does not change because li is the recipient. Any participle-agreement rules you later meet with direct object pronouns should not be transferred to indirect objects.

You may hear nonstandard or regional forms in spontaneous conversation, including alternatives around plural indirect objects and third-person combinations. For broad, neutral Catalan, use the core forms taught here—preverbal els and attached -los/’ls—and follow the model of the Catalan variety you are learning when you begin combining pronouns.

Practice Tips

1. Separate the thing from the recipient. Take five verbs—donar, dir, explicar, ensenyar and demanar—and make sentences with two blanks: “I give ___ to ___.” Identify the thing first, then replace only the recipient with em, et, li, ens, us or els.
2. Practise placement in pairs. Rewrite Li vull explicar el problema as Vull explicar-li el problema, then make similar pairs with poder, voler and haver de. This builds flexibility without changing the meaning.
3. Listen for the verb frame. When you hear agradar, telefonar, semblar or escriure, note which person is marked by the weak pronoun. Save the full phrase, such as li telefono or m’agrada, rather than memorising the verb alone.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Weak Pronouns — introduces Catalan weak pronouns and their basic positions around the verb.