Welcome once again to Spanish Class!  We’ll continue our beginner level Spanish lessons today with a discussion on Pronouns or Pronombres.

 

So, What Is a Pronoun?

 

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.

Here are a few examples: he, she, it, they

That means that a pronoun can do all of the things that a noun can do. It can be modified by an adjective, and it can perform any of the noun jobs in a sentence.

The word pronoun even has the word noun in it!

 

 

Let’s look at a few example sentences:

 

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was an exceptional artist. (noun used)

She was an exceptional artist. (pronoun used)

 

See how the pronoun she took the place of the noun Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón?

 

Here is another example:

 

Not only was Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón an exceptional artist,
she was also married to another renowned Mexican artist.

This example is a little different from the first one. In the second one, the noun and pronoun are found in the same sentence.

Remember how the definition of a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun? Well, from the above example, you can see that the pronoun she takes the place of the noun Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón.

 

We could have written the sentence like this:

Not only was Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón an exceptional artist,
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was also married to another renowned Mexican artist.

But that just sounds weird!

Thank goodness for pronouns!

If we didn’t have them, we would have to keep saying Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón every time that we wanted to refer to her.

 

What words are subject pronouns in English?

I

You (singular)

He/ She / It

We

You (plural)

They

 

So now that we have that English grammar lesson out of the way, let’s focus on what pronombres are used in Spanish.

 

 

What are the Spanish subject pronouns?

 

Yo

Tú

Él / Ella

Nosotros/ Nosotras

Vosotros/ Vosotras

Ustedes

 

  Vocabulary

Spanish	English
Yo	I
Tú	You- singular (informal, familiar)
Usted	You- singular (formal, polite)
Él	He
Ella	She
Nosotros	We (males only or males and females mixed)
Nosotras	We (females only)
Vosotros	You- plural (males only or males and females mixed- used primarily in Spain)
Vosotras	You- plural (females only- used primarily in Spain)
Ustedes	You- plural (used in Latin America)

 

 

Practice Exercise

Try to complete the following translations by using the correct subject pronoun (yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, ustedes) for each one:

e.g.  You (singular, familiar) swim: [ tú ] nadas

 

1. I dance: [      ] bailo

2. they (feminine) speak: [      ] hablan

3. you (singular, familiar) are: [      ] estás

4. you (plural, familiar, Spain) sing:  [      ] cantáis

5. they (masculine) play: [      ]  juegan

6. we look: [       ]  miramos

7. he says: [       ]  dice

8. you (singular, polite) eat: [      ]  come

9. you (plural, familiar, Latin America) live: [      ]  viven

10. she  jumps: [      ]  salta

 

 

Answers: yo, ellas, tú, vosotros, ellos, nosotros, él, usted, ustedes, ella

 

How many did you get right?  I hope all!

 

Hopefully this lesson will help you feel more comfortable using pronombres.  Soon we’ll move on to conjugating verbs!!

 

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