Pronouns
Pronouns are important in a language. They allow us to talk about ourselves and others without having to continue to use the proper nouns. In English, these are the subject pronouns. A subject pronoun is a pronoun that is used as the subject of the sentence, usually at the beginning of the sentence.
I
You
He
She
We
They
As you probably know, speaking without pronouns would be annoying and frustrating. The same goes for Spanish. The following are Spanish subject pronouns.
I = Yo
You = Tú
You = Usted
He = Él
He = Ella
We = Nosotros
You = Ustedes
They = Ellos
They = Ellas
You will notice that there are several new pronouns for Spanish. Use Usted when you are using respect, but tú can be used more casually. The same goes for Ustedes, except Ustedes is the plural form. Ellas is used when talking to more than one female only, and ellos is used when talking to more than one male or one or more male and female.
In addition to subject pronouns, there are direct and indirect object pronouns. In English, the object pronouns are:
Me
You
Him
Her
It
Us
Them
An object pronoun is used as the object at the end of the sentence. Examples are the easiest way to explain how object pronouns are used.
Direct Pronouns
She threw it.
Indirect Pronouns
She threw me the ball.
Indirect Pronouns
Me = me
Le = you, him, her, it
Nos = us
Les = you, them
Direct Pronouns
Me = me
Le = you, him
Lo = him, it (male)
La = you, her, it (female)
Nos = us
Los = them, you (male)
Las = them, you (female)
The structure for object pronouns is a little more complicated with Spanish than with English. They are usually placed before the verb like this:
Spanish: Nos dieron la pelota.
English: They game us the ball.
If the verb is a command or if it is in infinitive form, it is placed at the end of the verb. Infinitive form means that the verb hasn’t been conjugated. Here is how it would be used:
Spanish: Quiero escucharlos.
English: I want to listen to them.
If you can understand how to use pronouns correctly, you will be off to a great start with Spanish!
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