Personal pronouns are words used to take the place of a noun. Spanish Subject Pronouns are used in a similar way as in English. For example, \u201cI want you to know\u201d. In this sentence \u201cI\u201d and \u201cyou\u201d are pronouns (subject pronouns) and they are taking the place of the speaker and the listener respectively. But there is one big difference between these two languages in term of pronouns. In Spanish, these pronouns do not need to be expressed, as the verb itself will identify the subject. Personal pronouns may be divided into subject pronouns, object pronouns, indirect object pronouns and reflexive pronouns.<\/p>\n
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Subject pronouns, as you can suggest, are pronouns that doing the function of the subject of a sentence.<\/p>\n
First person singular: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yo<\/p>\n
Second person singular (informal):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T\u00fa<\/p>\n
Second person singular (polite): \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Usted<\/p>\n
Third person singular:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00c9l \/ Ella<\/p>\n
First person plural: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nosotros \/ Nosotras<\/p>\n
Second person plural (informal): \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vosotros \/ Vosotras<\/p>\n
Second person plural (formal):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ustedes<\/p>\n
Third person plural (plural): \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ellos \/ Ellas<\/p>\n
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As you can see, there are only two third person singular pronouns unlike in English that we have three: \u201che\u201d, \u201cshe\u201d and \u201cit\u201d. There is a reason to explain this. As you know, all nouns are masculine or feminine in Spanish so \u201cit\u201d will always belong to one of these two groups.<\/p>\n
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As with nouns, the masculine plural form of the pronouns is used to denote a group of people including females. This means that if you use \u201cnosotros\u201d, \u201cvosotros\u201d and \u201cellos\u201d it does not mean that all the people in that group are men. But if we use the feminine plural form \u201cnosotras\u201d, \u201cvosotras\u201d or \u201cellas\u201d it means that the group is explusively made of women.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s see a few examples.:<\/p>\n
-Nosotros, los espa\u00f1oles, somos simp\u00e1ticos (We, the Spanish are nice)<\/p>\n
(In this case \u201cnosotros\u201d is the pronoun and includes all the Spanish, women included)<\/p>\n
– \u00bfY tus padres? \u2013 Ellos no vienen (- And your parents? \u2013 They are not coming)<\/p>\n
(In this case, \u201cellos\u201d includes father and mother even though the word is masculine)<\/p>\n
In Spanish, subject pronouns are not frequently used in everyday conversation. This can sound strange because in English, subject pronouns are necessary to show who or what the subject if the verb is referring to. But, in Spanish, the verb has a different ending depending on the subject, providing this information. This makes the subject pronoun not necessary. Anyway, you can use them and it won\u2019t be incorrect but you should be aware to listen the Spanish speakers omitting them in their speeches.<\/p>\n
Subject pronouns have differences depending on if you are inSpainorSouth America, and they are a slightly different even within the peninsula.<\/p>\n
– To emphasys:<\/p>\n
Yo no voy a hacerlo (I am not doing it)<\/p>\n
El no sabe hablar ingles (He can\u2019t speak English)<\/p>\n
\u00bfT\u00fa qu\u00e9 quieres? (What do you want?)<\/p>\n
– To clarify a misunderstanding:<\/p>\n
(-Hoy no va a jugar – \u00bfQui\u00e9n, \u00e9l ?\u00a0 – No, ella)<\/em><\/p>\n – No tiene el dinero – \u00bfQui\u00e9n, ella? \u2013S\u00ed, ella)<\/em><\/p>\n – For contrast:<\/p>\n \u00c9l puede ir pero t\u00fa no vas a ir (He can go but you can\u2019t)<\/p>\n T\u00fa no lo sabes pero \u00e9l s\u00ed (You don\u2019t know it but he does)<\/p>\n – To avoid confusion that happens when the same verb ending correspond to more than one grammatical person:<\/p>\n \u00c9l era del Barcelona y yo del Real Madrid (He was a Barcelona supporter and I was a Real Madrid supporter)<\/p>\n Yo ten\u00eda el pelo moreno y ella lo ten\u00eda rubio (I had dark hair and she had it blond)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are two form of address in Spanish for the same word in English \u201cyou\u201d. These are \u201ct\u00fa\u201d and \u201custed\u201d (and vos in some parts of South America asArgentinaandUruguay).<\/p>\n The uses of this two words are different in every country but we can generalize this in two groups, the Spanish and the South American. In general we can say that \u201ct\u00fa\u201d is the informal way and \u201custed\u201d the formal. We have a few rules in common for all the Spanish variants for using one or the other:<\/p>\n – The level of familiarity, closeness or the affective or psychological distance between the speakers<\/p>\n – Courtesy (specially when differences in age)<\/p>\n – The level of formality of the situation or conversation<\/p>\n – Issues of power or autgirity<\/p>\n In general, and especially inSpainwe should use the formal or informal way following theses rules:<\/p>\n – To express familiarity, closeness, affection or informality: t\u00fa, vosotros \/ vosotras<\/p>\n – To express courtesy, difference of age, distance, formality or respect: usted, ustedes.<\/p>\nInformal form vs. Formal form<\/h3>\n