Personal pronouns

De Tomísimo

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that refers to a person. In the following sentence, he is the personal pronoun. John went to the store, and then he went home. Personal pronouns can be divided into several categories- direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, prepositional pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and subject pronouns. Personal pronouns can be used as the subject or object of a verb, or an object of a preposition etc.

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns in Spanish are used much as they are in English, but there is one important difference. They are largely optional in Spanish. You only need to specify the subject pronoun in Spanish to emphasize who is doing the action or to disambiguate when it's not clear from the verb conjugation who is doing the action.

Yo

Yo is the first person singular subject pronoun in Spanish, and directly correlates to I in English. One important difference exists between I and yo- in English, I is always capitalized and in Spanish it is only capitalized if it is the first word in a sentence.

Tú

Tú is the informal second person singular subject pronoun in Spanish, and is translated you in English. There are other second person singular subject pronouns in Spanish as well, so make sure you use the right one. Tú is used to address one person directly, in an informal manner. It is used to address animals, pets, children, most deities, equals, and good friends. It is quite common but is not used in all Spanish dialects.

Vos

Main article: Voseo

Vos is an equivalent second person singular subject pronoun in Spanish. It is similar to Tú, but is only used in some dialects, notably in Argentina and some Central American countries. Like Tú, it is an informal mode of address. When using vos, the verb that follows it is conjugated differently than when using tú. For example: vos sos and tú eres.

Usted

Usted is the formal second person sigular subject pronoun in Spanish. You use it to address one person directly when you want to show that person additional respect. It is commonly used with people older than yourself, or with people you don't know. Some Spanish dialects use usted exclusively as the singular second person pronoun, and don't use tú or vos.

Él

Él is the third person singular masculine and mixed gender subject pronoun in Spanish, equivalent to he or it in English.

Ella

Ella is the third person singular feminine subject pronoun in Spanish, equivalent to she or it in English.

Nosotros

Nosotros is the first person plural masculine or mixed gender subject pronoun in Spanish. This correlates to we in English.

Nosotras

Nosotras is the first person plural feminine subject pronoun in Spanish. This correlates to we in English. Use nosotras if everyone we is referring to is female.

Vosotros

Vosotros is the informal second person plural masculine or mixed gender pronoun in Spanish. You would normally be used in English where vosotros is used in Spanish. Vosotros is an informal way of addressing a group of friends. In some English dialects, you all, ya'll, or you guys is used in a similar manner. This verb form is normally only used in Spain, but also has a historical literary usage. For example, most versions of the Bible use vosotros, so although it's not used in common speech, it is understood in most Spanish-speaking areas. In most of the Americas where vosotros and vosotras are not used, ustedes is used instead.

Vosotras

Vosotras is the feminine-only version of vosotros. Use it just like vosotros, when all of the people you're addressing are female.

Ustedes

Ustedes is the formal second person plural subject pronoun in Spanish. This correlates to the English you or you all used in a formal setting.

Ellos

Ellos is the third person plural masculine or mixed gender subject pronoun in Spanish, and correlates to the English they.

Ellas

Ellas is the third person plural feminine subject pronoun in Spanish, and correlates to the English they.

Direct object pronouns

The direct object pronouns in Spanish are me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las.

Indirect object pronouns

The indirect object pronouns in Spanish are me, te, le, nos, os, les.

Double object pronouns

What to do when combining both direct and indirect object pronouns.