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Spanish Pronouns
How they compare with English
•Subject pronouns are placed in
front of the conjugated verb to
clarify who or what is doing the
action of the verb.
Lets Get Started!
• Compare these two sentences
• Jorge es mexicano.
• Él es mexicano.
•In the first sentence, we name the
person who is Mexican.
•In the second sentence, we
replace the person’s name with the
word ‘él’.
And your point is…?!
•A pronoun is a word that replaces a
noun: e.g. Jorge = él.
•Examples of pronouns in English are :
We, You, He, She, It, I & They.
•These particular examples are all
subject pronouns or pronouns used only
when replacing subjects of verbs.
Pronouns in General
English and Spanish both make use of
subject pronouns. They can be organized
as first, 2nd, and 3rd person. In English “I”
and “we” are first person. “I” is first
person, singular and “we” is first person
plural. Let’s take a look at how pronouns
are organized in English.
English Subject Pronouns
Singular
I
we
you
you
1rst
person
2nd
person
Plural
he
3rd
person
she
it
they
Spanish Subject Pronouns
In general, Spanish subject pronouns have
similar patterns with English pronouns.
The major differences are: Spanish has
four ways of saying “you”. They are not
interchangeable and do not mean the
same thing. Also, we do not use “it” as a
pronoun often in Spanish. One other
major difference involves the use of
gender. Let’s take a look.
Spanish Subject Pronouns
Singular
yo
1rst
person
2nd
person
3rd
person
Plural
nosotros
nosotras
tú
(vosotros)
(vosotras)
él
ellos
ella
ellas
Ud.
Uds.
Did you notice something?
Vosotros and vosotras both have a parenthesis
around them. This is because in the western
hemisphere, they are usually not used. They
both mean “you” and are used for informal
situations. Also, you should have seen “Ud.”
This also means you and is an abbreviation of
usted. Use Ud. when you are addressing
someone in a position of authority over you.
Uds. is used in the western hemisphere instead
of “vosotros/vosotras”. Uds. is an abbreviation
of ustedes, also means “you”. Use Uds. when
you are addressing more than one person.
Let’s compare
Singular
1rst
person
2nd
person
3rd
person
I = yo
Plural
we = nosotros*
we = nosotras*
you = tú
you = vosotros*
you = vosotras*
he = él
they = ellos*
she = ella
they = ellas**
you = Ud.
you = Uds.
*mixed group or all guys
**all girls
Now it is time to learn.
• If you want to learn Spanish, you will need
to learn the subject pronouns.
• You can often tell what the subject is by
the verb. Therefore in Spanish, it is not
always necessary to include the subject.
• Memorize these subject pronouns.
• Subject pronouns are not always needed
because the conjugation of the verb
implies who or what is doing the action of
the verb.
•Él is used to refer to he when
talking about someone else.
•Ella is used to refer to she when
talking about someone else.
•Usted is used to refer to you
formal when you are talking to a
person older than yourself or not
familiar with.
•Nosotros is used when you
refer to we as two or more
males or a mixed group.
•Nosotras is used when you
refer to we as two or more
females.
Ellos is used to refer to they as two
or more males or mixed group.
Ellas is used to refer to they as two
or more females.
Ustedes is used to refer to you
plural when talking to more than
one person older than you or not
familiar to you.
You Who?
• Tú, usted, and ustedes
all mean “you.”
• Use tú with family, friends,
people your age or
younger, and anyone you
call by his or her first
name.
You Who?
• Use usted with adults you
address with a title, such
as señor, señora,
profesor, etc. Usted is a
more formal address and
is usually written as Ud.
Hey, you!
• In most countries, use
ustedes when speaking to
two or more people,
regardless of age or
formality. Ustedes is
usually written as Uds.
That’s confusing!
• Not really, here’s a summary!
• Singular
informal→ tú
formal→ Usted (Ud.)
• Plural
formal & informal→ Ustedes
(Uds.)
Subject Pronouns
For the purposes of
instructions, I will use the
following abbreviations all
year long to distinguish the
different forms of ‘You’.
Be Prepared to Memorize!!!
Abbreviations
You
= Tú
You (F) = Usted/(Ud.)
You (P) = Ustedes/
(Uds)
Masculine or Feminine?
• If a group is made up of
males only or of both
males and females
together, use the
masculine forms:
nosotros or ellos.
Masculine or Feminine?
• Only when a group is
made up of ALL females
do you use the feminine
forms: nosotras or ellas.
Subject Pronouns
• You can combine a
subject pronoun and a
name to form a
subject.
Subject Pronouns
• Alejandro y yo = nosotros
• Carlos y ella = ellos
• Pepe y tú = ustedes
• Lola y ella = ellas
Other Helpful Tips
• Don’t forget the accent
marks!!
• Él (w/ accent) means ‘He’.
• El (w/o accent) means
‘The’.
More Helpful Tips
• Unlike ‘I’ in English, ‘yo’ is
only capitalized when it
begins a sentence:
Mi amigo y yo jugamos.