Just like in English, in Spanish there are different subject personal pronouns to use depending on who is speaking.

Yo (I/me) :
Yo me llamo Ana. (My name is Ana).

Tú (you) :
Tú cocinas muy bien. (You cook very well).

Él (He) :
Él no quiere trabajar. (He doesn’t want to work).

Ella (She) :
Ella hace sus deberes. (She does her homework).

Usted (You – polite) :
Usted puede entrar. (You may enter.)
Warning: this is the polite way of addressing one person.

Nosotros / nosotras (us) :
Nosotras queremos bailar en la playa. (We want to dance on the beach).

The feminine “we” does not exist in English. In Spanish, there is a form for a grouping of boys/men and a form for a grouping of girls/women.

Vosotros, vosotras (you – plural) :
Vosotras saben coser. (You know how to sew).

Ellos (them – masculine) :
Ellos perdieron peso. (They have lost weight).

Ellas (them – feminine) :
Ellas viven en una casita de montaña. (They live in a small country house).

Ustedes (you / plural / polite) :
¿ Ustedes quieren una taza de te ? (Would you like a cup of tea?)

There are two versions of the English polite “you” in Spanish: a singular version (usted) and a plural version (ustedes).

The verb of the sentence is conjugated accordingly.

Note: the use of a subject personal pronoun in a Spanish sentence is not always necessary, but can be very useful to understand the sentence when there is no context.

“Sabe cantar” can be translated as “he can sing”, “she can sing” or “you can sing”.

To remove any doubt from the reader’s mind, the appropriate personal pronoun should be added, for example, él sabe cantar (“he knows how to sing”).

The use of a personal pronoun also helps to emphasize the subject:

• “Yo sabe cantar” (implied “I can sing (and you can’t, for example)”).
• No tienen libros, él tiene. (They don’t have books, he has one).

👉 Practice now!

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