Object-pronoun order
Summary
When several object pronouns stack before the verb they follow a fixed order: me/te/se/nous/vous, then le/la/les, then lui/leur, then y, then en.
Explanation
Before a conjugated verb, two object pronouns line up in a fixed sequence: me / te / se / nous / vous → le / la / les → lui / leur → y → en. You take one item from an earlier column and one from a later column, in that order. So you get il me le donne (me before le) but il le lui donne (le before lui), and the set phrase il y en a (y before en).
A useful shortcut: the indirect forms me / te / nous / vous sit before the direct le / la / les, but the third-person indirect lui / leur sit after them. That asymmetry is the single most error-prone point: it is le lui and le leur, never lui le.
The same block stays glued to the verb in compound tenses and with infinitives. Write Je le lui ai donné and Je vais le lui donner, with both pronouns before the auxiliary or the infinitive. In the negative, ne … pas wraps the whole group: Il ne me le donne pas.
Affirmative commands break this pattern. There the pronouns follow the verb, joined by hyphens, and the direct object comes before the indirect: Donne-le-moi (give it to me). me and te become the stressed moi and toi at the end of the chain, and en/y come last (Donne-m'en). This order is unique to the affirmative imperative.
Negative commands revert to the normal pre-verb order: Ne me le donne pas, not the imperative chain. So the hyphenated, verb-first arrangement applies only when the command is affirmative.
Rule of thumb: in statements and negatives, run pronouns through the columns me/te/se/nous/vous → le/la/les → lui/leur → y → en and keep them before the verb; in an affirmative command, flip to verb + direct + indirect with hyphens and moi/toi.
Examples
Ce livre, il me le donne demain. — This book, he is giving it to me tomorrow. (Order: me (column 1) before le (column 2).)
La réponse, je la lui ai déjà donnée. — The answer, I have already given it to him/her. (Order: la (column 2) before lui (column 3); donnée agrees with the preceding la.)
Des fraises ? Il y en a encore. — Strawberries? There are still some. (y before en in the set phrase il y en a.)
Donne-le-moi, s'il te plaît. — Give it to me, please. (Affirmative command: verb + direct le + indirect moi, with hyphens.)
Ne me le donne pas tout de suite. — Don't give it to me right away. (Negative command keeps the normal pre-verb order.)
Common mistakes
Je lui le donne.
Je le lui donne.
Before the verb, the direct-object pronoun le / la / les comes before the indirect lui / leur, even though in the me/te/nous/vous combinations the indirect form comes first. The fixed sequence is me/te/se/nous/vous → le/la/les → lui/leur → y → en, so it is le lui, not lui le.
Prerequisites
Related rules
pronounsword-orderimperative