Object pronoun position

Romanian unstressed object pronouns, or clitics, stay close to the verb, but their exact position depends on the verb form: Îl văd. (I see him or it.) and L-am văzut. (I saw him or it.)

Where does an object clitic go?

In the basic affirmative pattern, put the clitic before a simple finite verb, before the auxiliary in a voi future, or between să and the verb in the present subjunctive; the affirmative imperative places it after the verb. In the compound perfect, most clitics precede the auxiliary, but feminine singular o follows the participle.

How does the verb form change the spelling?

Some clitics have full forms as separate words, while shorter attached forms occur in particular combinations with vowel-initial or vowel-final verbal material. This is why îl becomes l- in l-am văzut, while feminine singular o has its own special position in the compound perfect.

The same basic pre-verbal placement applies to the imperfect, simple perfect, and pluperfect, because these are simple finite forms. In ordinary speech, contractions such as l-am, n-o, and nu-l are common; the uncontracted combinations may also occur where the grammar allows them.

What happens after negation?

Put nu before the clitic and the verb in a negative finite clause: Nu-l cunosc. (I do not know him or it.) With feminine singular o, the common contracted form is N-o cunosc, while Nu o cunosc is also a standard full spelling.

• Present or another simple finite form: Nu mă vede. (He or she does not see me.)
• Future: Nu-l voi invita. (I will not invite him or it.)
• Compound perfect: Nu l-am invitat. (I did not invite him.) but Nu am invitat-o. (I did not invite her.)
• Present subjunctive: Vreau să nu-l chem. (I want not to call him.) The negative nu comes after să and before the clitic.
• Negative imperative: Nu-l chema! (Do not call him!) The clitic comes between nu and the verb, without the affirmative imperative pattern.

How do two object clitics combine?

When a sentence has both an indirect-object clitic and a direct-object clitic, the dative clitic comes first. The pair stays before the finite verb or auxiliary in ordinary affirmative clauses, and its spelling changes with the surrounding verb form.

The dative and accusative forms can contract or change their written shape: îi plus îl gives i-l in I-l voi trimite (I will send it to him or her), while the two clitics are separated from the auxiliary in I l-a trimis (He or she sent it to him or her). Detailed combinations belong to the order of Romanian clitic pronouns.

What about full object pronouns?

This article concerns unstressed forms such as mă, îl, o, îmi, and le. Full forms such as pe mine or ție are separate words and can move for contrast; when they accompany the verb as an emphasized object, the matching clitic normally remains in its usual position: Mă vede pe mine, nu pe tine. (He or she sees me, not you.) See unstressed direct object pronouns and unstressed indirect object pronouns for the forms themselves.

Mistakes to avoid

• Do not place a direct-object clitic after an ordinary present-tense verb: use Îl văd, not Văd-l. The post-verbal position belongs to forms such as the affirmative imperative: Vezi-l! (Look at him or it!).
• Do not put the clitic before the infinitive in the future: use Îl voi vedea, not Voi îl vedea or Voi vedea-l.
• Do not copy the ordinary pre-verbal pattern into the affirmative imperative: use Ajută-mă! (Help me!), not Mă ajută! when you mean a command.
• Do not treat o in the compound perfect as if it behaved like every other clitic: use Am văzut-o, not O am văzut.
• Do not reverse two clitics: the indirect-object clitic comes first in Mi-l trimite (He or she sends it to me).