the verb: nos lo dice, he says it to us. See 270, 286. 251.

3.  They always follow the verb and are joined immediately to it when the latter is in the affirmative imperative or subjunctive-imperative: dame (deme Vd.) el libro; give me the book; hablêmosle, let us speak to him. 252.

4.  They also must follow in like manner if the verb is an infinitive or gerund that does not depend upon another verb: darme el libro, to give me the book; dândome el libro, giving me the book. 253.

(t)--When the -Infinitive or gerund depends upon another verb these pronouns may either follow the infinitive or gerund or precede the verb upon which the latter depend: quiere hablarme, or, me quiere hablar, he wishes to speak to me; esta hablandome, or, me esta hablando, he is speaking to me. 254.

6. When used with a compound infinitive the object pronoun is postfixed to haber : siento haberle hablado, I regret having spoken to him. 255.

7. When used with a compound gerund the object pronoun is postfixed to habiendo : habiendome hablado, having spoken to me. 256.

8.  They may follow the verb also in literary style, contrary to the usual rule. This

AMBIGUOUS INDIRECT OBJECT   55

occurs frequently when the verb is found at the beginning of a sentence or clause: dijome esto, he told me this. 257.

9. When the pronoun is postfixed to the imperative, subjunctive-imperative, infinitive, or gerund, in order to retain the original stress on the verb form a written accent is placed over the vowel of the syllable stressed, whenever that syllable is found in a position preceding the next to the last syllable of the combination: demelo, give it to me; dandomelo, giving it to me. 258.

10. If the imperative or subjunctive-imperative is negative, the pronoun assumes its natural place before the verb and is not joined thereto: no me de Vd. el libro, do not give me the book. 259.

11. The pronoun precedes in indirect commands introduced by que : que me hable, let him (have him) speak to me. See 572. 260.

(1) The third person pronouns, singular and plural, le and les, are often ambiguous, as they may mean to him, to her, to you, or to it in the singular, and to them, m. or fem., or to you in the plural. Hence, it is sometimes necessary for the sake of absolute clearness to add, after the verb or at the beginning of the sentence, the prepositional forms of the third person (see table, 238) with a: le doy el libro a el, I give the book to him;