What are pronouns in Spanish?

What Are Pronouns in Spanish What Are Pronouns in Spanish 1

As in any other language, Spanish pronouns are special words that can take the place of nouns (some of them replace subjects, others — objects). The main purpose of that is to make your speech clear and avoid repetitions that weaken the ideas you plan to communicate. 

There are several significant differences between Spanish and English pronouns, such as:

  • Formal and informal variations. Whether you speak to one person or a group of people you don’t know or put in high regard, you need to choose the correct pronoun (usted or ustedes, los or les). Speaking casually with friends, you have an even bigger choice (tú, vosotros / vosotras, os, te).

    Vosotros sois muy buenos amigos.

  • Gender for plural. Agreeing words with gender makes a world of difference in Spanish. Pronouns are not exceptions. What you could say with they may require ellos or ellas.

    Ellas buscan sus mochilas.

  • Omitting the pronoun. Apart from knowing how to use them, you also need to be aware of how to avoid them in order not to sound too excessive in comparison to Spanish-speaking people. 

    Vendo mil flores al mes. (no pronouns) 

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Types of Spanish pronouns

You might have noticed that some pronouns are used instead of names of people who do something or targets of the action. Some others indicate possessions, or help suggest that you’ve done something on your own. All these cases we are going to explore to leave no stone unturned regarding their use and differences.

Subject vs object pronouns in Spanish

Subject vs object pronouns in Spanish Subject vs object pronouns in Spanish 1

From their name, you can understand that one type can be the subject, and is usually placed at the beginning of a sentence, instead of a person’s name. Object pronouns have two forms, direct and indirect. So in Spanish me and to me will have different words for it. 

Subject Object direct Object indirect Examples
yo me me
Yo como carne.
Me llamo Jorge.
Él me ve.
tú (singular, informal)
usted (singular, formal)		 te (informal) Te (informal)
Le (formal)
Tú comes manzana. / Usted come manzana.
Te visito mañana.
Te compro un regalo.
él / ella lo/la le
Él mira una película.
La escuché cantar.
Le dije la verdad.
nosotros nos nos
Nosotros cocinamos muy bien.
¿Nos esperas aquí?
Ellos nos enviaron flores.
ellos / ellas los/las les
Ellas trabajan juntas.
Las ayudé con la tarea.
Mi abuelo les cocinó paella.
vosotros / vosotras (plural, informal)
ustedes (plural, formal)		 os (informal)
los/las (formal)		 os (informal)
les (formal)
¿Vosotras venís a la fiesta? / Ustedes tienen razón.
La profesora os felicitó por el trabajo.
La maestra os explicó el ejercicio.

Tip: Vosotros / vosotras and os are typical in Spain, while in Latin America, ustedes serves this function. 

Reflexive and possessive pronouns

Reflexive and possessive pronouns Reflexive and possessive pronouns 1

Specifying that something was done by you or highlighting the belonging of an item to you or other people, you will need to use these two groups. Some similarities with English are visible, but they can’t be called identical language twins, because:

  • In Spanish, you use reflexive pronouns in many phrases, when, in English, they are left out; that’s why sentences, such as me levanto a las 8 (I get up at 8), can sound unnatural. 
  • They go before the verb and merge with it. 

Take a look at the instances:

Reflexive Possessive Assigned to Examples
me mío / mía / míos / mías yo
Me siento en la silla.
Esta es mi casa. Es mía.
te tuyo / tuya / tuyos / tuyas tú
Te preparas para el examen.
Estos juguetes son tuyos.
se suyo / suya / suyos / suyas él / ella / usted
Él se afeita todos los días.
¿Esos zapatos son suyos?
nos nuestro / nuestra / nuestros / nuestras nosotros / nosotras
Nos cepillamos los dientes.
Este gato es nuestro.
os vuestro / vuestra / vuestros / vuestras vosotros / vosotras
Os vestís rápido.
Vuestros amigos están aquí.
se suyo / suya / suyos / suyas ellos / ellas / ustedes
Ellas se maquillan.
Esa idea es suya.

Other special pronouns

Other special pronouns Other special pronouns 1

The list of Spanish pronouns above is not exhaustive without relative, interrogative, exclamatory and demonstrative pronouns. The first group can refer to people, and the second is not used in this way. 

Look at the group of demonstrative cases:

English Spanish Examples
This / these este / esta / estos / estas
Este es mi hermano.
That / those ese / esa / esos / esas
Esos son tus zapatos.
That / those (when something is not within reach for both) aquel / aquella / aquellos / aquellas
Aquella es mi escuela antigua.

Tip:  Don’t mistake adjectives for pronouns. Adjectives are used with nouns; they describe them. What is a pronoun in Spanish? It is a word that can replace a noun.

They are quite similar to English, with the addition that the words are opted for depending on the noun’s gender and the choice is wider, including an option when two speakers are far from an object (it is somewhere over there), and they discuss it from far. 

Speaking of the relative pronouns, they pop up in sentences in these forms:

English Spanish Example
Who / whom quien / quienes
Tengo un libro que me gusta mucho.
Who / that / which que
Él es el amigo con quien viajó.
Where donde
Aquí es donde vivimos.
Whose cuyo / cuya / cuyos / cuyas
El profesor cuyos libros están en la mesa es nuevo.

In Spanish, you can describe many words with one form, or one word with many forms. The following tips will make it easier to understand them:

  • Que – is common, flexible, and is not adjusted to the gender. It can be used with items and people. 
  • Quien and quienes — used to describe only people, pairs with particular prepositions (con, like in the example, para, de).
  • Donde — gives you the opportunity to refer to places. Donde and where are very alike.
  • Cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas — mean the same as whose, but should be changed by genders.

When asking questions without knowing who has done something and what caused particular outcomes, you create phrases with interrogative pronouns.

English Spanish Examples
Who quién / quiénes
¿Quién llama?
What qué
¿Qué quieres?
Which ones, which cuál / cuáles
¿Cuál es tu coche?

You may ask: How many pronouns are there in Spanish? There are some more. The same pronouns are used in positive exclamation sentences:

English Spanish Examples
Who quién / quiénes
¡Quiénes lo habrán hecho!
What qué
¡Qué sorpresa!
Which ones, which cuál / cuáles
¡Cuáles cosas pasan!

Try to read a lot actively to see these words in context and use them in simple sentences.

Most common Spanish pronouns

It will take time to memorize all the cases when you need to use them. Let us help you simplify this task  by outlining 20 of the most frequently used pronouns with their equivalent in English and highlighted instances so you can understand where to direct your attention:

In English In Spanish Example
I Yo
Yo hablo chino.
You Tú (informal)
Tú lees el libro.
You Usted
Usted toma agua.
He Él
Él vive en Barcelona.
She Ella
Ella come manzana.
We Nosotros (m) / nosotras (f)
Nosotros estudiamos inglés.
You Vosotros (m) / vosotras (f) (informal, plural)
Vosotros sois amigos.
You Ustedes (formal, plural)
¿Ustedes beben té?
They Ellos (for men and mixed)
Ellos leen libros.
They Ellas (for women)
Ellas escuchan música.
Me Me
Ella me ve.
You Te
Te llamo.
Her/him Lo / la
La escucho.
Us Nos
Nos invitan.
Them Los / las
No los entiendo.
Myself Me
Me ducho.
Yourself Te
Te miras en el espejo.
himself, herself, themselves Se
Ellos se hablan.
ourselves Nos
Nos cuidamos mucho.

You have probably noticed that some pronouns in Spanish repeat, but depending on their position in the sentence, their meaning changes. Also, as the table shows, ideas that can be conveyed in English with one word, such as you, in Spanish require at least four additional words.

Special cases and exceptions

We have covered the essentials, but this topic is complex, and like any other rule, it has exceptions you must know about. Here, you will find a breakdown of points you could see or hear from natives but don’t understand. Read further to make clear everything about accented, doubled pronouns and some more.

Repeating indirect pronouns

Or, in Spanish, it would sound redundancia con pronombres. It means that even if you have a noun in a sentence, so that another person can recognize who or what you are speaking about, the object Spanish pronoun is still present in the sentence. 

A Lina le gustan los libros.
A mis amigos les encanta comer frutas.

It may not go in line with grammatical rules, but in everyday speech you can hear it from native speakers, especially in Latin American countries, because it is a common practice there.

Double pronouns

When both direct and indirect object pronouns appear in the same sentence, it is a typical case in Spanish. A person who gets something and the item they receive are represented by pronouns. 

Double pronouns Double pronouns 1

To create a statement like that, you need to stick to the right order:

IOP + DOP + verb

Ellos me lo contaron. 
Se la traigo. 

There is a special rule to change le/les to se to avoid the le lo combination. When it comes to a conjugated verb, it is important to place pronouns before it. The same is with negatives. With gerund and infinitive, attach both pronouns to the end of a verb (dar – dartelo, mostrar – mostrarsela, enviar – enviarmelos). 

When learning Spanish, you are going to encounter this often, so when practicing new verbs, check whether it is possible to create such sentences and write as many as you can to be able to quickly answer and ask questions with this grammar.

Accented pronouns

Accented pronouns Accented pronouns 1

You could see that some pronouns have accents, and they are essential parts of the words they stress, because by removing them, you can convey your thoughts incorrectly. The most widely occurring examples are listed below:

With accent Meaning Without accent Meaning
tú you, an informal subject pronoun tu your
él he, a subject pronoun el an article, used with singular masculine nouns (Spanish equivalent of “the”)
mí me (as in English) mi my (possessive adjective)
dé a subjunctive form of the verb dar (to give) de similar to “of” in English

Here are some points that will help you decide which version of the pronoun you need to select:

  • Accents are not for pronunciation purposes. They don’t change the way a word sounds but develop new senses. That’s why, intending to skip it because you don’t want to look at how to write in on your keyboard, may cost clarity.
  • If you mention a person, you’ll need to opt for accented pronouns in most cases. When you need to use an article or a possessive pronoun, the word won’t have an accent. 

Common mistakes

As you just learned, there are multiple types of pronouns in Spanish for numerous purposes, and it is pretty simple to misunderstand them at the beginning, because of the many nuances you need to take into account. We have featured a list of frequent errors that happen with experienced speakers and given explanations why they are wrong:

Misusing Io / le

While lo is a direct object pronoun that can replace such words as it and that, le is an indirect object pronoun, meaning to her, to him, and to you. When choosing the wrong word, your speaking partner may not understand you.

Incorrect Correct
Le espero en casa.
Lo espero en casa.
Le invito a la fiesta.
Lo invito a la fiesta.

Wrong order

When using direct and indirect pronouns, you need to be mindful of the word position in a sentence, because it is strict. First goes an indirect object Spanish pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les), then follows a direct object pronoun (me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los/las), and, after that, comes the verb.

Incorrect Correct
Lo te doy.
Te lo doy.
Lo me compras.
Me lo compras.

Overusing pronouns when they are obvious

It is very common to hear and see that Spanish-speaking people omit pronouns when it is clear who they are talking about. Verbs help indicate the person without adding any extra words. So, if you want to sound natural, learn where to avoid pronouns as well:

Incorrect Correct
Yo hablo español.
Hablo español.
Ellos viven en Barcelona.
Viven en Barcelona.

Misunderstanding of formal and informal pronouns

In English, it’s easy, you use you for each case, whether you talk with your relatives or professors. The Spanish language has formal pronouns (usted, ustedes) to address people you don’t know and informal (tú, vosotros)  to communicate with friends. 

Incorrect Correct
Tú habla muy rápido, señora.
Usted habla muy rápido, señora.
Tú está cansado hoy, doctor.
Usted está cansado hoy, doctor.

Enjoy personalized learning!

Time to Test Yourself

Spanish pronouns are the building blocks of clear communication. Test how well you know them with this quick quiz.

Type 1: Multiple Choice (ABC)
Choose the correct pronoun to complete each sentence:
1
___ soy estudiante de español.
2
¿___ tienes un diccionario?
3
Marta y ___ vamos al cine.
4
¿Quiénes son ellas? ___ son mis primas.
5
Pedro y Juan no están aquí. ¿Dónde están ___?
Type 2: Put the Words in the Correct Order
Arrange the words to form a correct Spanish sentence using the right pronoun:
1
tengo
un
aquí
mapa
Yo
2
vamos
Nosotros
al
cine
hoy
3
habla
Ella
inglés
muy bien
4
es
Él
mi
mejor
amigo
5
ustedes?
¿Dónde
viven
Type 3: Fill in the Gaps
Fill in the blanks with the correct subject pronoun in Spanish:
1
soy de México. (I am from Mexico.)
2
¿ vivís en Madrid? (Spain – talking to a group)
3
Marta y Ana son amigas. estudian juntas. (They study together.)
4
¿Quién toca la guitarra? toca muy bien. (He plays very well.)
5
Tú y yo vamos al museo. (You and I go to the museum.)

Summary and final tips

Now that you have learned so many different types and aspects of all pronouns in Spanish, let’s summarize the tips that will help you get the most out of this grammar. 

Tip 1: Practice each group individually to work on each aspect, including positive, negative, and interrogative sentences.

Tip 2: Try to inspect each to see the pattern and do mixed exercises to be able to separate one pronoun from the other.

As soon as you produce phrases with this grammar confidently, move on to the next topic — the verb-object agreement. 

FAQ: Common questions about pronouns in Spanish

When do I say "yo" or leave it out?

In most cases, sticking to yo or not is based on your feelings; it is optional. However, there are several types of messages where yo is required. First, wanting to emphasize that you’ve done something, especially if you compare yourself to someone:

Yo trabajo mucho, pero él no trabaja. 

Second, yo will have value in your sentence if, without it, for another person, it will be unclear who you mean in your speech:

¿Quién quiere café? Yo quiero.

 

What’s the difference between "lo" and "le"?

Both lo and le are related to object pronouns; one of them is direct and the other indirect. What does it mean? You use lo when you want to replace the word it or him. You want to say a sentence, I see him. In Spanish, it would be Lo veo. Lo is in the first place, and the verb goes after it. 

Le means to whom or for whom you give or do something. Planning to say: I sent him or her a letter, your sentence will look like this: Le envío una carta. To summarize the point, you need to use lo instead of him / it and le — for / to him / for / to her. 

How do I use reflexive pronouns with verbs?

Reflexive pronouns, which in Spanish enable you to emphasize that you or another person did an action to themselves, abide by the following rules:

  • They must be chosen in accordance with the subject. If you speak about yourself, using Yo, then your reflexive Spanish pronoun is me. If you are discussing your friend or several other people, select se. 
  • Pronouns are placed before the verb, not like in English, as these instances show: Yo me lavo or Tú te peinas. However, they can appear after the verb, but in this case, they are mostly attached to the gerund or infinitive and present connected word: Me estoy lavándame. 
Can I combine object pronouns in one sentence?

Yes, it won’t be a mistake to use several object pronouns within one line. You can use both direct and indirect pronouns, such as me, te, le, nos, os, les, and lo, la, los, las. Just remember that sometimes le or les, merging with lo, becomes se. 

Se lo doy.
Me lo das, por favor. 
Te la envío mañana. 
Why are pronouns sometimes dropped in Spanish?

Each part of the Spanish speech is functional and points to many things, much like a map that you need to learn how to read. People usually navigate through whom they are talking about with the help of verbs. By changing their forms, verbs bear the meaning of a person in them, so when they can tell you who did an action, pronouns are not necessary. 

Mostly, this rule is applied to subject pronouns but is not typically used with possessive, reflexive, or object pronouns. Also, using usted / ustedes and maintaining a formal tone, you won’t need to leave them out.