👉 Why and when you need to add ‘lo’ to Spanish verbs?

– Spanish Grammar Basics for Beginners –

In Spanish, there is a grammatical phenomenon that is often found: it is characterized by the addition of one or two personal pronouns right after the conjugated verb.

The pronoun can be direct, indirect or reflexive and is joined to the end of the verb so that only one word is formed and the tonic accent remains unchanged.

Moreover, so that the accented syllable does not change, in most cases, a written accent must be added.

How do I place ‘lo’?

It can be formed by one or more pronouns.

In the following example there can be only one pronoun:

Dílo. (Say it)

In this case, it is a direct pronoun.

There can also be two pronouns:

Dímelo. (Tell me about it)

Two pronouns, the indirect first and the direct second, were put together.

In Spanish, the indirect pronoun is placed before the direct (“Dímelo”).

Different modes

There are three different ways to add ‘lo’. First, it’s found in the infinitive.

Hay que tenerlo. (You must have it)

It also exists in the gerund.

Puede pasar tiempo haciéndolo sin parar. (He can spend time doing it without stopping)

In this example, an accent has been added to the “e” so that the tonic accent is kept.

Finally, it also appears in the imperative:

Si es una cosa que a ti te gusta, hazlo ! (If it’s something you love, do it!)

The written accent

As we have seen, a written accent must be added when adding ‘lo’ so that the tonic syllable is unchanged.

In general, the tonic syllable of words that end with a consonant other than “n” or “s” are on the last syllable.

On the other hand, for words that end in a vowel, an “n” or an “s”, the tonic syllable is located on the second to last syllable.

For example, if we take the verb “enfrentarse” and conjugate it in the second person singular in the imperative, we get “enfrentate“.

The stress is normally on the penultimate syllable since the base of the verb is “enfrenta” and, since the personal pronoun “te” is added at the end, an accent is added on the “e” so that the stress is kept on the proper syllable.

Thus, adding ‘lo’ is often present in Spanish. It has some peculiarities regarding the order of the pronouns and the written accent.

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Tags: Grammar