Clitics

Clitics are a type of "half word" that are attached before or after the verb and which have particular grammatical constraints that "normal" words don't have. English -n't– as in don't, can't– is sometimes described as a clitic.

Clitics in Spanish generally function as pronouns or as a preposition-plus-pronoun combination. That is, they have a similar meaning and function to the English series of pronouns me, you, him when used as the object of the verb. Informally, clitics in Spanish (and other Romance languages such as French) are often called "object pronouns"¹. The following sentence contains an example of a clitic underlined:

The clitics in Spanish are as follows:

Clitics for usted(es)

The third-person clitics (lo(s), la(s), le(s)) can also function as second-person, referring to a person or people that would be addressed as usted(es).

Direct vs indirect

Most clitics can represent either the direct or indirect object of the verb. So Spanish me, as well as meaning me as in "he saw me", can also mean to me as in he gave me the book.

Reflexivity

Most clitics can also be reflexive: that is, have the -self meaning (e.g. me can mean myself, as either indirect or direct object). However, the third-person pronouns lo(s), la(s), le(s) are never used reflectively; instead, se replaces them with a reflexive meaning.

Position

With a "normal" conjugated verb, clitics always come before the verb as in the example above. On the other hand, clitics are always attached to the end of other forms: infinitives, participles and positive imperatives.

Variation in the use of third-person clitics

In both Peninsular and Latin American varieties of Spanish, there is variation in how different Spanish speakers use the third-person clitics. A common variation is to use le instead of lo for a human masculine direct object.

1. The description of "object pronouns" works more or less in Spanish, but is a poorer description of clitics such as French y/en or Italian ne.