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• The subject pronouns in English are I, you, he, she, we, you and they.
• There are different words meaning you in Spanish depending on whether the situation is informal or formal.
• It is not always necessary to use subject pronouns in Spanish but they can be used for emphasis.

Subject pronouns replace a noun which is the subject of the verb, in other words, the person or thing that is doing the action in the sentence. Use them to avoid repeating nouns.

In English the subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, you and they.

The table shows the subject pronouns in Spanish.

For example:

Elena juega al fútbol (Elena plays football) becomes ella juega al fútbol (she plays football).

David va al colegio (David goes to school) becomes � va al colegio (he goes to school).

Marta y Jorge van a la ciudad (Marta and Jorge go to town) becomes ellos van a la ciudad (they go to town).

Carla y yo vamos al cine (Carla and I go to the cinema) becomes nosotros vamos al cine (we go to the cinema).

Remember

The masculine forms nosotros, vosotros and ellos are all used for a mixed group of males and females, even if there are more females than males in the group.

There are two different ways of saying the word you in Spanish depending on the situation.

Use ��ú to talk to one person and vosotros to talk to more than one person in an informal situation, for example with friends and family.

Use usted to talk to one person and ustedes to talk to more than one person in a formal situation, for example a job interview, talking to a head teacher or talking to someone you don’t know well.

Subject pronouns are not generally needed in Spanish as the verb ending tells you who is the subject of the verb. Subject pronouns are therefore mostly used to emphasise exactly who does what.

For example:

Yo quiero ir al cine, pero � quiere ir a la bolera. - I want to go to the cinema but he wants to go bowling.

Yo quiero comprar ropa, pero ella quiere ver una película. - I want to buy clothes but she wants to watch a film.

Practise what you've learned about subject pronouns with this quiz.

Did you know?

Some Spanish speakers use gender-neutral pronouns. The most commonly used ones are:

• elle (they, singular)

• elles (they, plural)

For example:

Elle va al cine los sábados. - They (singular) go to the cinema on Saturdays.

Elles juegan al tenis el domingo. - They (plural) play tennis on Sunday.

Now you have learned about subjects pronouns in Spanish why not explore possessive pronouns in Spanish?