1. Spanish Subject Pronouns
And the verb “SER”

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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”

6. 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.

7. 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”.

8. 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)

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

10. 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

11. 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).