Who said that?
Subject
Pronouns
What are they?
•Subject pronouns tell us WHO is
doing an action in a sentence.
•In English, we have:
I
We
You
Ya’ll
He/she
They
•I
talk on the phone a lot.
• We dance sometimes.
• They
draw very well.
En español...
• When you are talking TO someone. These
are the subject pronouns you can use:
•
•
•
•
Tú – YOU speak Spanish!
Usted – YOU are a good teacher!
Ustedes – YOU guys are so smart!
Vosotros – YA’LL (males) are from Texas,
right?
• Vosotras – YA’LL (females) are from Texas,
right?
Tú
Used when talking directly to
someone informally (a friend,
parent, pet, classmate, someone
you are comfortable with.)
¡Tú cantas mucho!
Usted
Used when talking directly to
someone formally (president,
principal, teacher, elder)
Ud. no baila bien.
Ustedes
• Used when talking to MORE THAN ONE
person.
• Means “You all” or “You guys”
Uds. dibujan bien.
• In Spain, it is used when the group you
are talking to is a formal group.
• Everywhere else, it is the only way to
talk to more than one person.
Vosotros, Vosotras
• ONLY used in SPAIN
• Used to talk to more than one
person informally (a group of
friends or classmates)
¡Vosotros estudiáis mucho!
When you are talking
about someone...
• Yo – I am soooo pretty!
• Él – HE sings so well!
• Ella – SHE studies sometimes!
• Ellos – THEY (males) teach Spanish!
• Ellas – THEY (females) speak German!
• Nosotros – WE (males) are the best!
• Nosotras – WE (females) are the best!
Yo
•Just means I.
•Used only when talking
about yourself.
Yo esquio con mis amigos.
Él
•Used when talking about
one male.
•It means He
Él estudia las matemáticas.
Ella
•Used when talking about
one female.
•It means She
Ella habla por teléfono.
Ellos
• The plural form of Él.
• Used when talking about more than
one male OR a mixture of males and
females.
• It means They
Ellos montan en bicicleta.
Ellas
• Plural form of Ella.
• Used when talking about more than
one female ONLY (no chicos allowed!)
• It means They also
Ellas montan en monopatín.
Nosotros
• Used when talking about yourself AND
someone else/other people.
• It means We.
• Often you will see:
– Julia y yo = nosotros
– Mi familia y yo = nosotros
– Ella y yo = nosotros
Nosotros
estudiamos
Nosotras
• The feminine form of We.
• Chicos will never ever use this.
• Only used when a chica is talking
about herself and another girl.
Nosotras bailamos.
To sum it up in a chart...
Yo
=
I
Nosotros = We (males/females)
Nosotras = We (females only)
Tú
=
You (informal)
Vosotros = Ya’ll males/
females (Spain only)
Vosotras = Ya’ll females (Spain
only)
You (formal)
He
She
Uds.
Ellos
Ellas
Ud. =
Él
=
Ella =
= You all (formal)
= They (males/females)
= They (females only)
Which subject pronoun
would you use...
• To talk about a group of boys...
– Ellos
• To talk to a teacher...
– Ud.
• To talk about yourself and one other boy...
– Nosotros
• To talk to a group of female classmates in
Spain...
– Vosotras
• To talk about yourself...
– Yo
• To talk about a girl...
– Ella
• To talk to a girl your age...
– Tú
• To talk to a group of people in
Mexico...
– Uds.
• To talk about a male teacher...
– Él