Spanish Subject Pronouns And the verb “SER”

What is a subject pronoun? The boy is from Colombia. “The boy” is a subject. He is from Colombia. “He” is a subject pronoun. El chico es de Colombia. Él es de Colombia.

English Subject Pronouns Singular Pronouns I – 1st person You – 2nd person He/She/It – 3rd person Plural Pronouns We – 1st person You – 2nd person They – 3rd person

Spanish Subject Pronouns Singular Yo – 1a persona Tú – 2a persona informal Él – 3a persona Ella – 3a persona Usted* – 2a persona formal Plural Nosotros/Nosotras – 1a persona Vosotros/Vosotras – 2a persona informal Ellos – 3a persona Ellas – 3a persona Ustedes* – 2a persona formal/informal

Usted y Ustedes Usted y Ustedes (abbreviated Ud. Y Uds.) mean “You” and are therefore 2nd person subject pronouns However in Spanish, Ud. and Uds. are followed by a third person verb Take note of this with the conjugation of the verb “SER”

Una nota sobre “Vosotros” Vosotros/as – used in Spanish to address a group of people informally, is only generally used in Spain. Therefore, most of the time you will use Ustedes when addressing a group of people whether you are being formal or informal.

SER – to be We will be using the verb “ser” to describe ourselves and others. On our vocab lists we have already seen the forms “eres” and “soy”.

SER continued… SER is the form of the verb known as the infinitive (el infinitivo) which is the form that means TO do something (not used with a subject)

To Be (in English) I am You are He, she, it is We are You are They are

SER Nosotros/as somos Yo soy Vosotros/as sois Tú eres Él es Ellos son Ellas son Ustedes son Yo soy Tú eres Él es Ella es Usted es

Translate these! He is nice (simpático). You (sing. formal) are messy (desordenado). We are intelligent (inteligente). They are serious (serio). You (pl) are impatient (impaciente). You (sing inf) are funny (gracioso).