Why "se" instead of "te"?

Question

In the question and answer: "Cuándo va a devolverme la pluma? Voysela el martes".

Why isn't the answer "Voytela el martes.", because the full answer is: "Voy a devolver la pluma a usted el martes."

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Because the proper indirect object pronoun for Usted is le- te belongs with tú. When an indirect and direct object both start with "l" the indirect object changes to se for pronunciation reasons.

See here:Object pronouns together

Indirect object pronouns "le" and "les" are changed to "se" when followed by "lo," "la," "los," or "las" to make pronunciation a lot easier.

You should not be putting the pronouns on the end of the voy.

Voy a devolvérsela...

or se la voy a devolver...

if you prefer.

Cool, Teacher :) - Sabor, Jul 23, 2011

Thanks a lot! Brilliant. - PFWspanish, Jul 24, 2011