Pronouns

Pronouns are short words that replace a noun, like "I", "her" or "them" in English. Spanish has three main sets: subject pronouns, object pronouns, and pronouns used after a preposition.

Subject Pronouns

Use the feminine nosotras and ellas only when the whole group is female. A mixed group uses nosotros and ellos.

Tú, Usted and Ustedes

Tú is for friends, family and children. Usted is for strangers, older people and anyone you want to show respect to.

In Latin America, ustedes is used for any group of two or more, friends or not.

Usted and ustedes use the same verb forms as él and ellos: usted tiene (you have), ustedes tienen (you all have).

Leaving Out the Subject

The verb ending already shows who is doing the action, so Spanish usually drops the subject pronoun. Tengo hambre means "I’m hungry" without any yo.

Add the pronoun to make it clear or to stress it: Yo trabajo, ¿y tú? - I work, and you? It also helps with él, ella and usted, which share one verb form: Ella es de Chile. - She’s from Chile.

Vos

In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and much of Central America, people say vos instead of tú, with its own verb forms: vos tenés instead of tú tienes, vos sos instead of tú eres.

This app teaches tú, which is understood everywhere. If someone speaks to you with vos, you can answer with tú.

Object Pronouns

These replace the person or thing that receives the action. They usually go right before the conjugated verb.

• Te quiero. - I love you.
• Lo veo. - I see him, or I see it.
• La conozco. - I know her.
• Le doy el libro. - I give him (or her) the book.
• Les hablo. - I talk to them.

Lo or La?

Lo and la follow the gender of the noun they replace, even for things:

• ¿El libro? Lo tengo. - The book? I have it.
• ¿La llave? La tengo. - The key? I have it.
• ¿Los boletos? Los compré ayer. - The tickets? I bought them yesterday.

In Spain you will often hear le for "him" as a direct object (le veo). In Latin America, use lo: Lo veo. - I see him.

Le Becomes Se

When le or les comes right before lo, la, los or las, it changes to se. The indirect one always comes first.

• Se lo doy. - I give it to him (never le lo).
• ¿La carta? Se la mando mañana. - The letter? I’ll send it to her tomorrow.

Where Object Pronouns Go

Object pronouns go before a conjugated verb. With an infinitive or a gerund, they can go before the conjugated verb or attach to the end of the infinitive or gerund:

• Lo quiero comprar or Quiero comprarlo - I want to buy it.
• Lo estoy leyendo or Estoy leyéndolo - I’m reading it.

With a positive command they must attach to the end; with a negative command they go before the verb:

• Dímelo. - Tell me.
• No me lo digas. - Don’t tell me.

After Prepositions

After words like para, de, sin and con, Spanish uses the subject pronouns, except for two special forms: mí and ti.

• para mí - for me (with an accent, so it is not mi, "my")
• para ti - for you (no accent)
• de él - about him, his
• sin ella - without her
• con usted - with you

A few words use yo and tú instead: entre tú y yo (between you and me), según tú (according to you).

Conmigo and Contigo

With con, "me" and "you" join the word:

• conmigo - with me: ¿Vienes conmigo? - Are you coming with me?
• contigo - with you: Quiero hablar contigo. - I want to talk to you.

Never say con mí or con ti. The other persons stay separate: con él, con nosotros, con ustedes.