Here’s one of those questions that drove people on some listservs crazy:
The teacher teaches successfully the placement of pronouns in Spanish. You know the rules –
D.O. pronoun preceedes the verb
UNLESS
the verb is a participle, in which case the D.O. pronoun goes at the end of the participle
UNLESS
the participle is part of a periphrastic construction, in which case it can go either before the auxillary verb or at the end of the participle
OR
the verb is an infinitive, in which case the D.O. pronoun goes at the end of the infinitive
OR
if the infinitive is part of a verb phrase, the D.O. pronoun can go either before the auxillary verb or at the end of the infinitive…………
The students learn that. Now what?
Now what?
Do you mean to tell me that if the student wants to say, “I want to see it” that he’ll think of the above rules?
In the phrase “Quiero verlo” there are a number of other rules, too. Does the student apply them all at once or is there an order of operations?