Let’s Get to Know Spanish Subject Pronouns

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Click here if you’d like to find out what Spanish subject pronouns are and how you can use them to make your Spanish sound more natural!

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What are pronouns? Let’s reviewSo, what are Spanish subject pronouns?It’s not me, it’s you …YoTú (don’t forget the accent!)Él/ella (don’t forget the accent!)UstedNosotros/asVosotros/asEllos/ellasUstedesWhen do we use Spanish subject pronouns?Quiz

Here is an article about Spanish subject pronouns. We’ll start by looking at what they are, and then go through each (don’t worry, there aren’t too many), and look at how to use them!

What are pronouns? Let’s review

We know that nouns name people and things. Pronouns can replace them. In the example below, the bold words include pronouns such as he/him and possessive determiners such as his.

Jim went to his wardrobe and pulled out his best suit jacket, which his mother had given to him. He had to get it dry-cleaned before he could wear it to visit her.

Are pronouns that important? Well, let’s look at Jim’s story again, but this time without pronouns:

Jim went to Jim’s wardrobe and pulled out Jim’s best suit jacket. Jim’s mother had given the suit jacket to Jim. Jim had to get the suit jacket dry-cleaned before Jim could wear the suit jacket to visit Jim’s mother.

So, you tell me. Are pronouns important?

(Yes. Yes, they are.)

So, what are Spanish subject pronouns?

There are different types of pronouns. One group is personal pronouns, and within this group, we find our topic for today: subject pronouns.

The subject of a phrase is the person or thing that’s “doing” the action. For example, the subject in ‘John loves Mary’ is John. He’s doing the lovin’.

So, a personal subject pronoun is a pronoun that refers to the (usually human) subject of the sentence! In English, they are ‘I,’ ‘you,’ ‘he,’ ‘she,’ (‘it’), ‘we,’ and ‘they.’

And here they are in Spanish:

• yo (‘I’)nosotros (‘we’)
• tú (‘you’)vosotros (‘you’)
• él/ella/usted (“he/she/you formal”)ellos/ellas/ustedes (“they/you plural”)

It’s not me, it’s you …

Before we start looking at the Spanish subject pronouns one by one, we need to talk about the subject pronoun ‘you.’

In English, we use the word ‘you’ in a lot of different ways without even thinking about it! We use it for the:

• second-person singular—informal, e.g. a best friend. (‘You are getting on my nerves today.’)
• second-person singular—formal, e.g. a new business colleague (‘Do you have a copy of my resume/CV, Señor Bellick?’)
• second-person plural—informal, e.g. members of a group of friends (‘You guys are the best.’)
  
• second-person plural—formal, e.g. some old ladies you meet on the bus. (‘You are all very friendly.’)

In most of Spain, these four distinctions are commonly expressed with different forms of “you.” Usage elsewhere varies, as explained below.

They are:

• Second person singular—informal = tú (Tú me estás molestando hoy.)
• second-person singular—formal = usted (¿Tiene usted una copia de mi currículum, señor Bellick?)
• second-person plural—informal = vosotros (masculine) or vosotras (feminine) (Vosotros sois los mejores.)
• second-person plural—formal = ustedes (Ustedes son todas muy amables.)

Knowing which one to use is not an exact science. It will depend on where you are, who you’re talking to, how old they are, what your perceived relationship is, and whether one of you has invited the other to tutear them (yes, tutear means to address someone using tú!).

Yo

Yo means ‘I.’ We all know how to use ‘I’ in a sentence, so let’s make sure it makes sense in Spanish, too!

Pretty simple? Let’s look at the next one.

Tú (don’t forget the accent!)

Tú is an informal singular “you.” Its use alongside usted and vos varies by country, region, relationship, and situation. Many parts of Latin America use tú frequently; there is no single Latin American rule favoring usted in every setting.

In Spain, you could use tú with:

• Children
• Animals
• Friends
• Co-workers (if you work in a close-knit, chilled environment)
• Family
• Strangers your age if you’re both teens or in your twenties
• Some strangers, depending on the setting and local convention
• People who invite you to use tú

In places where tú is the usual informal form, it is commonly used with:

• Children
• Animals
• Friends
• Family

Vos is common as an informal singular “you” in Argentina, Paraguay, and parts of Uruguay, as well as other regions. It often has its own verb forms, so it is more than a spelling substitute for tú.

Él/ella (don’t forget the accent!)

Él means “he” and ella means “she.” They usually refer to people as subject pronouns. When English uses “it” for a thing, Spanish normally omits the subject or names the thing, rather than routinely using él/ella.

Usted

This is the more formal version of the second-person singular. It’s conjugated exactly the same as él and ella (due to how it developed historically*).

Usage varies by country, region, age, and situation. Usted is widely used to show respect or formality, for example with:

• An elderly person
• A person in a position of authority
• Someone helping you in an administrative or bureaucratic setting
• A work associate (e.g. if you’re in a very corporate job, meeting a potential client for the first time)
• Someone you want to keep at arm’s length

With strangers, follow local usage and the other person’s lead. In many settings, usted is a safe respectful choice, but tú or vos may be normal in others.

• Perdone, ¿trabaja aquí usted?Excuse me, do you work here?

Nosotros/as

Nosotros means ‘we’ in the masculine form (if it’s a group of people from more than one gender, you have to use the masculine form by default). Nosotras means ‘we’ in the feminine form.

Vosotros/as

Vosotros/vosotras is the plural version of informal ‘you.’

In most of Spain, the use of vosotros corresponds to the use of tú. For example, if you were talking to one friend your age, you’d use tú, so when you talk to a whole group of them, opt for vosotros.

In the vast majority of Latin America, vosotros basically doesn’t exist. There’s no point even considering using it—they always use ustedes for plural ‘you.’

Ellos/ellas

Ellos means ‘they’ (masculine), and ellas means ‘they’ (feminine).

Ustedes

Ustedes, sometimes shortened to Uds. or Vds., is the plural form of usted. It refers to plural “you”: formal in most of Spain, and both formal and informal in Latin America and the Canary Islands.

• Disculpen, señoras. ¿Ustedes son de aquí?Excuse me, ladies. Are you from around here?

So, in most of Spain it is used as the plural form of usted (as discussed above).

However, in Latin America, ustedes is used in all second-person plural situations, no matter what level of formality or respect! They literally only use ustedes, never vosotros, when talking about ‘you’ (plural). You could be talking to a group of kids and still would use ustedes.

• ¿De dónde son ustedes? ¿Dónde están sus padres?Where are you from? Where are your parents? (Talking to a group of lost children in Latin America)

When do we use Spanish subject pronouns?

An important thing to know about Spanish is that it’s what we call a ‘null-subject language,’ which means that we don’t always need pronouns to understand what’s being said.

Verb endings often identify the person and number of the subject. For example, bailas means “you dance,” so tú can be omitted. Some forms are ambiguous; context or an expressed subject then helps.

In fact, most of the time, you don’t need to use the subject pronoun, but there are times when they’re helpful and necessary …

• Emphasis

We can add a subject pronoun to put emphasis on the subject rather than the action.

• Hazlo.Do it.
• ¡Hazlo tú!You do it!
• ¿Vas a una discoteca?Are you going to a club?
• ¿Vas a una discoteca tú?Are you (of all people) going to a club?!

• Contrast

Sometimes we want to clarify that we’re talking about one person as opposed to someone else. Including these pronouns is the Spanish equivalent of English-speakers putting emphasis in our voices.

• Clarifying ambiguity

As you know, usted is conjugated the same as él/ella, and ustedes is conjugated the same as ellos/ellas. Similarly, in the imperfect tense, yo has the same verb endings as él/ella/usted.

Including the subject pronoun clears up any ambiguity caused by these similarities.

• ¿Va a cantar ella?Is she going to sing?
• ¿Va a cantar usted?Are you (formal) going to sing?
• Fui al mercado con mi hermano. Él tenía una lista de la compra.I went to the market with my brother. He had a shopping list.
• Fui al mercado con mi hermano. Yo tenía una lista de la compra.I went to the market with my brother. I had a shopping list.

• To emphasize respect

When it’s clear from context that we’re using the polite forms usted and ustedes, we might repeat the pronoun anyway just to reinforce that formality!

• Making yourself known!

Subject pronouns can identify someone. For example, when you announce yourself at someone’s front door or on the phone, you can use a subject pronoun rather than your name. Use the verb ser.

• Abre. ¡Soy yo!Open up. It’s me!
• Mamá, ¿eres tú?Mom, is that you?
• —¿Quién rompió el vaso?
  —¡Ha sido él!Who broke the glass?
  It was him!

• One-word answers

Sometimes in Spanish we use the subject pronoun where in English we’d use an object pronoun or prepositional pronoun. All this means is that we use the Spanish for ‘I’ instead of ‘me.’

• With mismo/a/os/as

A Spanish subject pronoun combined with the correct form of mismo means ‘oneself.’

• ¡Lo hice yo mismo!I did/made it myself!

Quiz

 1. Tengo un hermano y una hermana. _ es dentista, y _ es pianista. (I have a brother and a sister. She’s a dentist, and he’s a pianist.)

a.  Not needed

b.  Ellos, ellas

c.  Ella, él

Click to reveal the correct answer:

C

 2. Según _, es mala idea. (If you ask me, it’s a bad idea.)

a.  yo

b. mi

c.  mí

Click to reveal the correct answer:

A

3. _ voy a Madrid. (I’m going to Madrid.)

a.  Tú

b.  Not needed

c.  Yo

Click to reveal the correct answer:

B or C. Both “Voy a Madrid” and “Yo voy a Madrid” are grammatical. B is natural without emphasis; C can emphasize or contrast the speaker.

4. ¿Cuándo salen _? (When are you leaving?)

a.  vosotros

b.  ustedes

c.  nosotros

Click to reveal the correct answer:

B

5. Tengo dos hermanos. _ viven en Australia. (I have two brothers. They live in Australia.)

a.  Not needed

b.  Ellos

c.  Ellas

Click to reveal the correct answer:

A or B. The subject can be omitted because the brothers are already mentioned. “Ellos” is also grammatical, especially for emphasis or contrast.

Great job—now you know how to use Spanish subject pronouns! The trick is to only use them where necessary. Have fun practicing!