empezar a to begin tener que to have to
hacer to make terminar de to finish
ir a to be going tratar de/ to try
to intentar
necesitar to need poder to be able
volver a to (do) again
and with the following verbs when they take a gerund (see 18.4):
andar to go about estar to be
continuar/seguir to continue venir to have been
This usage is notpossible when the infinitive is governed by a reflexive verb.
The order of personal pronouns
In sentences where a verb has two weak pronouns, the indirect object
precedes the direct object, with the exception of reflexive se, which is
alwaysin initial position:
No pienso dártelo. I do not intend to give it to you.
Os [SP] lo han descrito They have described it to you in
detalladamente. detail.
Se nos presentó como un He introduced himself to us as a
especialista. specialist.
8.5.3
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
41111
The position
and order of
personal
pronouns
81
Position of personal pronouns
1 If in doubt when positioning personal pronouns in constructions
with dependent infinitives and gerunds, usually the safest option
is to attach them to the end of these verb forms: Se negó a
comprármelo‘She refused to buy it for me’.
2 But it is important to take care when adding personal pronouns
to infinitives or gerunds, since in doing so it might be necessary
also to add a written accent to the verb, as in the previous
example, in order to preserve the correct stress pattern in its
pronunciation. On written accents, see 1.3.2.3.
