Spanish Personal Pronouns

Before we learn verb conjugation, we need to know one thing first:

WHO is doing the action?

Three grammatical persons

Person	Meaning	English
1st person	the speaker	I / we
2nd person	the person or people I am speaking to	you
3rd person	other people or things	he / she / it / they

I/WE → 1st person YOU → 2nd person OTHERS → 3rd person

English and Spanish

Person	English	Spanish
1st singular	I	yo
2nd singular	you	tú / usted
3rd singular	he / she	él / ella
1st plural	we	nosotros / nosotras
2nd plural	you	vosotros / vosotras / ustedes
3rd plural	they	ellos / ellas

In some parts of Latin America, vos is also used for singular you.

English has one word: you.
Spanish has several different forms.

English “YOU” vs. Spanish “YOU”

English has one “you”. Spanish has several.

Singular

tú — familiar / informal

usted — respectful / formal

vos — used in parts of Latin America

Plural

vosotros / vosotras — familiar / informal

ustedes — plural “you”

All of these forms refer to the second person: the person or people we are speaking to.

Spain

tú / usted / vosotros(as) / ustedes

Latin America

ustedes is normally used instead of vosotros(as). In some regions, vos is also used.

The Spanish Person System

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	yo	tú / usted / vos	él / ella
Plural	nosotros / nosotras	vosotros / vosotras / ustedes	ellos / ellas

Person

1st, 2nd or 3rd

Number

singular or plural

Spanish personal pronouns are organized by person and number.

Third-person singular is more than él or ella

Third-person singular is a grammatical category. It can be a pronoun, a name, or a noun.

Pronouns

él

ella

Names and nouns

María

Peter

my brother

the teacher

the university

Hong Kong

the book

my dog

They can all be third-person singular: one person or one thing we are talking about.

María → ella

Peter → él

the university → it

Third-person plural is more than ellos or ellas

Third-person plural can also be a pronoun, names, or plural nouns.

Pronouns

ellos

ellas

Names and nouns

María and Ana

Peter and John

my parents

the students

the books

Hong Kong and Macao

They can all be third-person plural: two or more people or things we are talking about.

María and Ana → ellas

Peter and John → ellos

my parents → ellos

What happens when people are combined?

María + I

María y yo → we

nosotros / nosotras

If I am included, the group becomes 1st-person plural.

María + you

María y tú → you two

This is 2nd-person plural.

María + Juan

María y Juan → they

ellos

Gender in plural pronouns

All female

Ana + María → ellas

Ana + María + yo → nosotras (if the speaker is female)

Male or mixed group

Juan + Pedro → ellos

Juan + María → ellos

Juan + María + yo → nosotros

In traditional standard Spanish, masculine plural forms are used for male or mixed groups.

Review: Who are we talking about?

1. I yo — 1st person singular

2. María ella — 3rd person singular

3. You, my student tú / usted — 2nd person singular

4. María and Ana ellas — 3rd person plural

5. María and I nosotros / nosotras — 1st person plural

6. You and your classmates vosotros / vosotras / ustedes — 2nd person plural

Ask two questions:
1. Which person? — 1st, 2nd or 3rd
2. Singular or plural?