Telling a story can get tiring pretty quickly if you have to keep saying every person's name over and over. This is wher personal pronouns like subject pronouns come in pretty handy. Subject pronouns often replac a subject noun and can be classified several different ways: by person (first, second, or third person), number (singular or plural), gender (male or female), and formality (formal or informal). Luckily, we've provided a snazzy chart so you have all the Spanish subject pronouns in one place.

 

While subject pronouns can be used to replac a person's name, many native speakers of Spanish rarely use them at all. This is because Spanish verb endings tell you who the subject is.

Spanish Subject Pronouns

 

Spanish English Person Number Gender Formality

yo

 

I First person singular --- ---

nosotros

 

we First person plural masculine ---

nosotras

 

we First person plural feminine ---

tú

 

you Second person singular --- informal

vos

 

you Second person singular --- informal

usted

 

you Second person singular --- formal

ustedes

 

you Second person plural --- formal (Spain), both informal and informal (Latin America)

vosotros

 

you Second person plural masculine informal (Spain)

vosotras

 

you Second person plural feminine informal (Spain)

él

 

he Third person singular masculine ---

ella

 

she Third person singular feminine ---

ellos

 

they Third person plural masculine ---

ellas

 

they Third person plural feminine ---

A Closer Look

 

Let's learn some important tips about each of the above subject pronouns.

 

Yo

 

It isn't necessary to capitalize yo in Spanish unless it is the first word in a sentence.

Mi mamá y yo fuimos a la tienda.

My mom and I went to the store.

 

Yo fui a la tienda solo.

I went to the store by myself.

 

Tú

 

When you are talking directly to a child, a relative, a friend, a peer, or a pet, you should use tú, the informal singular second person.

Tú is written with a tilde to distinguish it from the possessive adjective tu  (your).

Vos

 

Vos is used instead of tú in some countries, such as Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

In some countries, such as Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, you may hear both tú and vos.

In some countries, such as Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, you will really only ever hear tú.

Usted

 

Usted is used to directly address someone older, a person you do not know, a superior, or someone to whom you would like to show a lot of respect.

You can abbreviate usted as Ud. in writing.

Él, Ella

 

Él and ella are commonly used in place of a person's name.

Él is written with a tilde to differentiate it from the definite article el  (the).

Nosotros, Nosotras

 

Use nosotros or nosotras when speaking about a group of which you are a part.

 

The difference between nosotros and nosotras is gender.

 

Nosotros is used to refer to a group of men only or a group made up of men and women. Even if there are ninety-nine women and only one man in a group, you still use nosotros.

Nosotras is feminine and is only used when the entire group is female.

Vosotros, Vosotras

 

Vosotros and vosotras are used to speak directly to a group of people you are very familiar with.

 

Vosotros and vosotras follow the same rules for gender as nosotros and nosotras.

 

Vosotros and vosotras are used in Spain, but you won't hear them in Latin America.

Ustedes

 

In Latin America, ustedes is used to speak directly to a group of people in both formal and informal situations.

In Spain, ustedes is used when talking to a group of people in a formal situation.

You can abbreviate ustedes as Uds. in writing.

Ellos, Ellas

 

Ellos and ellas follow the same rules for gender as nosotros, nosotras, vosotros and vosotras.

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