The subject pronouns
Spanish has more subject pronouns than English because it separates masculine and feminine in the plural and has two ways of saying "you".
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | yo (I) | nosotros / nosotras (we) |
| 2nd informal | tú (you) | vosotros / vosotras (you all, Spain) |
| 2nd formal | usted (you) | ustedes (you all) |
| 3rd | él (he), ella (she) | ellos / ellas (they) |
- Nosotras, vosotras and ellas are for groups made up only of women or girls.
- A mixed group takes the masculine form: Ana y Pedro = ellos.
- Tú (you) has an accent; tu without an accent means "your". Él (he) has an accent; el means "the".
- Usted and ustedes are often abbreviated in writing as Ud. / Uds. or Vd. / Vds.
Tú or usted?
| tú / vosotros | usted / ustedes | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | friends, family, children, colleagues of your age | strangers, older people, officials, customers |
| Verb form | 2nd person: tú hablas | 3rd person: usted habla |
Usted is grammatically third person, so it uses the same verb form as él and ella:
- ¿Usted es la señora García? — Are you Mrs García?
- ¿Tú eres Marta? — Are you Marta?
In Spain, vosotros is the normal plural for friends and ustedes is formal. In Latin America vosotros is not used: ustedes is the only plural "you", for friends and strangers alike.
- ¿Vosotros venís a la fiesta? — Are you (all) coming to the party? (Spain, informal)
- ¿Ustedes vienen a la fiesta? — Are you (all) coming to the party? (Latin America, or formal in Spain)
Dropping the pronoun
The verb ending already shows who is doing the action, so the subject pronoun is normally left out:
- Hablo español. — I speak Spanish.
- Vivimos en Madrid. — We live in Madrid.
- ¿Tienes hambre? — Are you hungry?
Use the pronoun only for contrast, emphasis or to avoid confusion:
- Yo trabajo y tú descansas. — I work and you rest.
- ¿Quién paga? Yo. — Who is paying? Me.
- Ella es médica, pero él es profesor. — She is a doctor, but he is a teacher.
Since usted, él and ella share a verb form, usted is kept more often than the others for politeness and clarity.
Watch out as an English speaker
- Pronoun overuse. English always needs a subject; Spanish does not. Repeating yo in every sentence sounds heavy and even self-centred. ✗ Yo me llamo Tom. Yo soy inglés. Yo vivo en Sevilla. / ✓ Me llamo Tom. Soy inglés. Vivo en Sevilla.
- No "it" as subject. English "it" has no subject pronoun in Spanish. Weather and general statements have no subject at all. ✗ Él es importante. (for "It is important") / ✓ Es importante. Same with weather: Llueve. (It is raining.)
- Usted takes the third person. Because "you" in English always has the same verb, learners use the tú form with usted. ✗ ¿Usted eres de aquí? / ✓ ¿Usted es de aquí?
- "Me" is not a subject. In short answers English says "Me"; Spanish uses yo. ✗ ¿Quién quiere café? Me. / ✓ Yo.
Example dialogue
Buenos días. ¿Es usted el señor López? — Good morning. Are you Mr López?
Sí, soy yo. ¿Y usted? — Yes, that's me. And you?
Me llamo Laura. Trabajo en la oficina de al lado. — My name is Laura. I work in the office next door.
Encantado. Mi mujer y yo vivimos aquí. — Pleased to meet you. My wife and I live here.