Combined clitics: mo, to, lho
B2 Contração dos clíticos: mo, to, lho 50 / 55
In short
When an indirect object pronoun (me, te, lhe…) and a direct object pronoun (o, a, os, as) both hang on the same verb, European Portuguese does not line them up as two words - it fuses them into one: deu-me o livro plus “it” becomes deu-mo (“he gave it to me”). These contractions - mo, to, lho, no-lo, vo-lo and their feminine and plural mates - are a hallmark of careful EP. The order is always indirect first, direct second, the opposite of how English says “give it to me”. Get that order and the small contraction table under your belt and a whole layer of natural Portuguese opens up.
The rule
The two pronouns fuse
You already met the two families in Lesson 29: the indirect (dative) me, te, lhe, nos, vos, lhes and the direct (accusative) o, a, os, as. Put both on one verb and they contract. The indirect clitic keeps only its consonant onset and the direct clitic supplies the vowel:
- me + o -> mo (“it to me”); te + a -> ta (“it/her to you”); lhe + os -> lhos (“them to him”).
The direct part carries the gender and number of the thing referred to, exactly as the plain o / a / os / as would: dá-mo (a masculine thing), dá-ma (a feminine thing), dá-mos / dá-mas (plural).
Indirect before direct - always
English puts the direct object first (“lend it to me”), so English speakers reach for a o-me order that does not exist. Portuguese welds them the other way round: dative + accusative. Think of it as “to-me + it” -> mo, never “it + to-me”.
The nos / vos forms take a hyphen
me, te, lhe, lhes fuse into a single written word (mo, to, lho). But nos and vos end in -s, and that -s pulls in the -lo / -la allomorph you saw in Lesson 31: the direct clitic becomes -lo, -la, -los, -las and the pair is written with a hyphen:
- nos + o -> no-lo; vos + as -> vo-las.
Note that lhe and lhes both contract to the same forms - lho, lha, lhos, lhas - so dei-lho can mean “I gave it to him”, “to her”, or “to them”; context decides.
Placement is the ordinary clitic rule
A fused clitic is still a clitic, so it obeys the enclisis / proclisis switch from Lesson 30. Nothing new to learn:
- Enclisis (the default): hook it onto the verb with a hyphen - deu-mo, empresto-to, contei-lho.
- Proclisis (with a trigger - negation, que, quando, se, most question words, adverbs like já, também, só): it jumps in front, written as a separate word - não mo deu, que to empreste, quem lho contou, já no-lo enviaram.
With the future and conditional the pair burrows inside the verb (dar-mo-ei, dir-to-ia): that is mesoclisis, the very next lesson.
When you will actually use them
These contractions are alive in careful speech and normal in writing. In relaxed conversation EP speakers often sidestep them - repeating the noun (dá-me o livro) or dropping the direct clitic - but you must recognise mo, to, lho instantly when you hear or read them.
Forms & patterns
The full contraction grid - indirect down the side, direct across the top:
| Indirect + | o | a | os | as |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| me | mo | ma | mos | mas |
| te | to | ta | tos | tas |
| lhe / lhes | lho | lha | lhos | lhas |
| nos | no-lo | no-la | no-los | no-las |
| vos | vo-lo | vo-la | vo-los | vo-las |
The same pair, shown in enclisis and proclisis (placement from Lesson 30):
| Meaning | Enclisis (default) | Proclisis (after a trigger) |
|---|---|---|
| he gave it to me | deu-mo | não mo deu |
| I lend it to you | empresto-to | quando to empresto |
| tell it to him | diz-lho | que lho digas |
| they sent it to us | enviaram-no-lo | já no-lo enviaram |
| I will hand them to you (pl.) | entrego-vo-los | só vo-los entrego depois |
Examples
| Português | English |
|---|---|
| Pediste-me o relatório e eu entreguei-to ontem. | You asked me for the report and I handed it to you yesterday. |
| A chave? A Ana deu-ma de manhã. | The key? Ana gave it to me this morning. |
| Se precisas do carro, empresto-to sem problema. | If you need the car, I’ll lend it to you no problem. |
| Ele prometeu ajuda e deu-no-la logo. | He promised help and gave it to us right away. |
| Não mo digas, quero fazer surpresa. | Don’t tell it to me, I want it to be a surprise. |
| Quem lho contou? Foi o teu irmão? | Who told it to him? Was it your brother? |
| Comprei os bilhetes e dou-vo-los à entrada. | I bought the tickets and I’ll give them to you at the door. |
| Ainda não ma devolveram. | They still haven’t given it back to me. |
| Peço-te o dossiê; envia-mo por email. | I’m asking you for the file; send it to me by email. |
| Essas fotografias, mostra-lhas quando vieres. | Those photos, show them to her when you come. |
Common mistakes
- Ele deu-me-o. -> Ele deu-mo. - the two clitics must contract; you cannot leave me and o side by side on the verb.
- Dá-o-me. -> Dá-mo. - the order is indirect then direct (me + o -> mo), never the English “it + to me”.
- Empresto-lo-te. -> Empresto-to. - same trap with te; fuse to to, do not stack.
- Enviaram-nos-o. -> Enviaram-no-lo. - nos ends in -s, so the direct clitic takes the -lo form and the pair is hyphenated (Lesson 31).
- A caneta? Deu-mos. -> A caneta? Deu-ma. - the direct part must agree with the noun it replaces; caneta is feminine singular, so me + a -> ma, not mos.
- Não deu-mo. -> Não mo deu. - não triggers proclisis, so the fused clitic moves in front of the verb.
- Diz-lhe-o. -> Diz-lho. - lhe + o contracts to lho; keeping them apart is not an option in EP.
Tips
- Learn the grid by its shape: the indirect gives the onset (m-, t-, lh-, no-, vo-) and the direct gives the vowel + agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as). Build any cell on the spot.
- Only nos and vos carry the hyphen and the -lo shape, because they end in -s - the same reason fazemo-lo takes -lo back in Lesson 31.
- When you are unsure of the order, translate the indirect first: “to me … it” -> m- … -o -> mo. Anchoring on the dative keeps you out of the English word order.
- To dodge the contraction in speech, just restate the noun (dá-me a chave instead of dá-ma) - fully correct and often more natural in conversation.
- In Brazil: these contractions are essentially never used, in speech or writing; Brazilians rephrase (me dá a chave, deu o livro pra mim) and mo, to, lho read as distinctly European and formal.