Subject Pronouns
In English, a subject pronoun replaces a noun that is doing the action of a verb.
For example: Mr. McCabe talks to students. Mr. McCabe sees them in the hall.
Mr. McCabe is the principal.
In these sentences we can replace “Mr. McCabe” with “He” since we know who
we are talking about and who is doing the action. “He” is a subject pronoun (or personal
pronoun).
English subject pronouns are:
I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Spanish pronouns work the same way. In Spanish, they are:
Yo, tú, él, ella, usted (Ud), nosotros, nosotras, vosotros, vosotras, ellos, ellas,
Ustedes (UDS.)
You can organize these pronouns in a simple chart to help understand them better.
MEMORIZE THIS CHART!
Singular Plural
1st person Yo = I Nosotros = we (all male or mixed group)
Nosotras = we (all female)
2nd person Tú = you (familiar) Vosotros = all of you (familiar, male or mixed)
Vosotras = all of you (familiar, all female)
3rd person Él = he
Ella = she
Usted (Ud.) = you (formal)
Ellos = They (all male or mixed)
Ellas = They ( all female)
Ustedes (Uds.) = all of you
Vosotros and Vosotras are only used in parts of Spain. You will not be tested on these,
but you need to know that they exist.
Notice that there are 5 ways to say “you” in Spanish. We will use 3.
Tú - this is used informally, meaning with your friends, family, kids, pets, etc.
Usted – This is used formally, with adults, strangers, people in authority, to show
Respect. It’s often abbreviated to Ud.
Ustedes – This is used to address a group of “you”s or y’all, all of you, ‘you
guys’.
Abbreviated to Uds.
With plural subject pronouns, remember that if there is one guy in the group, no matter
how many women, use the masculine form.
Some times you will see multiple nouns and subject pronouns together. Any time that
“yo” is included, use the nosotros,as form. If you see tú or Ud. Or Uds., and “yo” is not
included, use the Uds. Form. This will become more important later with verbs.
