Los pronombres Pronouns

To talk about yourself Whenever you need to talk about yourself, use the pronoun “yo” Yo means I Ej: Yo necesito un lápiz. = I need a pencil.

To talk to someone In Spanish, there are 3 words used for the English word “you” Tú Usted Ustedes

To talk to someone Tú Definition: You (familiar) Use tú with people who you are familiar with and people who are the same age as you

To talk to someone You can use tú with Family members Friends Classmates

To talk to someone Usted (Ud) Definition: You (formal) Use usted with people who you do not know well (not on a first name basis) are older than you you want to show respect

To talk to someone You can use usted with: Someone you are meeting for the first time (who is older than you) The principal or vice principal Your friends’ parents

To talk to someone Ustedes (Uds) Definition: You (plural) Use ustedes when you are talking to 2 or more people

Let’s practice Which pronoun would you use if you wanted to talk… To your best friend To all of your classmates About yourself To the principal To your parents To a cop To your cousin

To talk about a person Él Definition: he Use él to talk about a boy without using his name Ej: Pablo quería 500 hipopótamos.  Él quería 500 hipopótamos.

To talk about a person Ella Definition: she Use ella to talk about a girl without using her name Ej: Carolina quería 100 elefantes.  Ella quería 100 elefantes.

To talk about yourself and someone else Nosotros Definition: we (masculine) Use nosotros for a group of males (or for a mixed group of males and females) that includes you Nosotras Definition: we (feminine) Use nosotras for a group of females that includes you

To talk about yourself and someone else Ej: Alejandro y yo Raquel y yo Tú y yo

To talk about 2+ people Ellos Definition: they (masculine) Use ellos for males or for a mixed group of males and females Ej: Carlos y Daniel Carlos y Amanda Carlos, Amanda y Isabel

To talk about 2+ people Ellas Definition: they (feminine) Use ellas for females Ej: Maria y Isabel

Let’s practice Which pronouns would you use to talk about these people? Victoria Carlos y Mateo Ricardo Yourself and other girls Emilia y Carmela Yourself and other boys

A quick note Most Spanish speakers use ustedes when speaking to two or more people. In some Spanish speaking areas, however, when they are speaking to two or more people whom they would address individually as tú, they use vosotros or vosotras. We will not often use these forms, but you should learn to recognize them.

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