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Is there a grammatical rule for where the "combined" pronouns in a sentence with two verbs (model + infinitive for example) go?

For example, which of the following phrases is correct:

  • Je te le vais donner.

  • Je vais te le donner.

  • Je te vais le donner.

I know, for example, that in Italian, the combined pronouns must either go before both verbs "Te lo devo spiegare" or attached to the second verb "Devo spiegartelo". Does it work that way in French as well?

Stéphane Gimenez
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  • Relevant Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/French/comments/3mjyin/in_french_syntax_is_faire_the_only_verb_that/ – sumelic Nov 13 '16 at 05:38

2 Answers2

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Personal pronouns always go before the verb they complement.

Je pense te le donner sous peu.

The above sentence is about offering something to someone.

Je t'ai vu en offrir.

Here it's about seeing someone, offering something.

Your example uses aller. It does not admit complements. So it can only be:

Je vais te le donner.

Give something to someone.

However, it becomes a little tricky when using the imperative mood…

Community
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Stéphane Gimenez
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  • Is it really relevant to put t' in bold in the second example? I think it's not the same than the first te, since we could write: "Je t'ai vu lui en offrir". te le donner means donner ça à toi, but the t' in the second sentence is not part of the complement which is offrir ça. – Destal Nov 02 '16 at 16:54
  • The personal pronouns always go before - les pronoms démonstratifs (cela) se placent après. – guillaume girod-vitouchkina Nov 12 '16 at 23:41
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Yes, there is a rule, that you can find here.

The order is :

[sujbect (+ne)] > me/te/nous/vous/se > le/la/les > lui/leur > y > en > [verb]

This is the verbal group, indivisible.

If your sentence is [Conjugated verb] + [infinitive verb] like "je vais + verbal group", "je pense + verbal group", "je t'ai vu + verbal group", it doesn't change. Order your pronouns for the first verbal group, then for the second.

Teleporting Goat
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