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 Uds. dibujan bien. Used when talking to MORE THAN ONE person. Means “You all” or “You guys” 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. Uds. dibujan bien.
Vosotros, Vosotras ¡Vosotros estudiáis mucho! 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 Ellos montan en bicicleta. 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 Ellas montan en monopatín. 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 Nosotros estudiamos 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 Nosotras bailamos. 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) Ud. = You (formal) Él = He Ella = She Uds. = You all (formal) Ellos = They (males/females) Ellas = 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 to a girl your age... 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