So far you’ve learned to identify direct and indirect objects in sentences like “Le compré unos recuerdos para mi papá.” (I bought my father some souvenirs.) And you can use indirect and direct object pronouns separately, as in “Te mandé una tarjeta postal. ¿La recibiste?” (I sent you a postcard. Did you receive it?)

When using indirect and direct object pronouns together in the same sentence, the indirect one goes first. The two pronouns must stay beside each other, and the usual object pronoun placement rules apply.

• ¿Los pasajes de avión? Nos los mandaron por correo electrónico. (The plane tickets? They sent them to us by email.)
• ¿Tu pasaporte? ¿No te lo devolví? (Your passport? Didn’t I return it to you?)
• Mamá imprimió mi tarjeta de embarcación y ella va a dármela al entrar en el puesto de seguridad. (Mom printed my boarding pass and she is going to give me it when we go in the security checkpoint.)

Third-person object pronouns used together

An interesting thing happens when two third-person object pronouns are used together (e.g. “give it to them” or “receive them from her”):  both the indirect and the direct object pronouns in the third person start with the letter “L”. For purely phonetic reasons (and not meaning to cause confusion with the reflexive pronoun!), the indirect object pronoun in those situations changes to “se”.

• ¿Los pasajes de avión para usted? Le Se los puse en este sobre. (The plane tickets for you? I put them in this envelope for you.)
• Tu papá sabe todo sobre el vuelo, le se lo dije ayer. (Your dad knows everything about the flight, I told (it to) him yesterday.)
• Aquí está tu visa para los oficiales de inmigración; necesitas presentárlesla presentársela ahora. (Here’s your visa for the immigration officers; you need to present it to them now.)

Where there’s likely to be confusion about who the “se” is referring to, be sure to use a prepositional phrase for clarification.

• Compré regalos para mi mamá y mi papá; se los di a ella para su cumpleaños y se los di a él para el Día del Padre. (I bought gifts for my mother and father; I gave them to her for her birthday, and gave them to him for Father’s Day.)