Spanish Pronouns

Front 1

Demonstratives Near this hill (here)

(the first person). usually refers to something near the speaker. demonstrative determiners can also be used as pronouns, with the addition of the neutral singular forms esto, eso, aquello.

Back 1

this éste ésta

Front 2

these

Back 2

éstos éstas

Front 3

Middle. that hill (there)"

Ese usually refers to something nearer the hearer (the second person). demonstrative determiners can also be used as pronouns, with the addition of the neutral singular forms esto, eso, aquello.

Back 3

that ése ésa

Front 4

those

Back 4

ésos ésas

Front 5

Far. yon hill (yonder)"

Aquel usually refers to something away from both the speaker and the hearer. demonstrative determiners can also be used as pronouns, with the addition of the neutral singular forms esto, eso, aquello.

Back 5

that aquél aquélla

Front 6

those

Back 6

aquéllos aquéllas

Front 7

the

Back 7

el the la the los the las

Front 8

They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender, too.1st person singular (yo): mi(s). Possessive pronoun — refers to something owned or possessed by someone or something — mío (mine), mía (mine), míos (mine), mías (mine), suyo (his, hers, theirs) — La mía es verde. Mine is green. (The possessive pronouns are usually preceded by el, la, los or las, but not always.)

Back 8

mine mi mine mis

Front 9

They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender, too.2nd person singular (tú): tu(s)

Back 9

your tu your tus

Front 10

They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender, too.3rd person singular (él, ella): su(s)

Demonstrative pronoun — replaces a noun while also pointing to it — éste (this one), ésta (this one), ésa (that one), aquéllos (those ones) — Quiero ésta. I want this. (Note that many demonstrative pronouns have written or orthographic accents on the stressed vowel. Although such accents used to be considered mandatory, these days they generally are considered optional if they can be omitted without causing confusion. However, many writers and publications continue to use them even though they don't affect pronunciation.)

Back 10

his su his sus

her su her sus

Front 11

They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender, too.1st person plural (nosotros/as): nuestro/a(s)

Back 11

our nuestro our nuestros

Front 12

They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender, too.2nd person plural(vosotros/as): vuestro/a(s)

Back 12

your vuestro your vuestros

Front 13

They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender, too.3rd person plural (ellos/as): su(s). Note that su has many potential translations in English: his, her, its, your (formal), or their. So, how do you know which meaning is intended? Context! In the following sentence, since su refers to mis padres, we know that su means their.

Back 13

su sus his, her, its, their, your (formal)

Front 14

There is also a "neuter article", used before adjectives, that make them work like nouns:

Back 14

lo bueno = "what is good, the good stuff"
lo importante = "the important thing"
lo indefinible = "the indefinable"
lo desconocido = "the unknown"

Front 15

Indefinite articles

Back 15

un hombre = "a man"
una mujer = "a woman"
unos hombres = "some men"
unas mujeres = "some women"

Front 16

There is no distinction in number for the third person possessives (i.e. between "his"/"her"/"its" and "their").
The possessive for usted and ustedes is su(s) as for other third-person pronouns. The ambiguity that this causes (especially considering that su(s) already covers "his", "her", "its" and "their") can be allieviated by treating usted(es) as a noun and thereby saying la casa de ustedes instead of su casa. It is also possible to disambiguate by saying la casa de él or la casa de ella, etc.

Back 16

usted and ustedes is su(s)

Front 17

Demonstrative pronouns can be combined with possessives as follows:the presence of the first determiner means that the possessive must be interpreted as an adjective rather than a determiner. Note however that the normal adjectival form (mío, tuyo, suyo...) is not used in this construction.

Back 17

Esta nuestra tierra = "This Earth of ours"
Este mi amor = "This love of mine"

Front 18

There are many more words that can be used as determiners in Spanish. They mostly end in -o and have the usual four forms (-o, -a, -os, -as) to agree with their noun.

Back 18

(-o, -a, -os, -as

¡Otra cerveza, por favor! = "Another beer, please!"
Mucha gente pasa por aquí = "Many people pass through here"
No hay tanta gente como en verano = "There are not as many people as in summer"
Ciertos vinos son muy dulces = "Certain wines are very sweet"
He salido con varias chicas = "I have been out with several girls"

Front 19

Subject pronoun — replaces the subject of a sentence — yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), ellos (they), ellas (they) — I want to leave. Yo quiero salir.

Back 19

yo — I

Front 20

you (singular familiar)

Back 20

tú —

Front 21

you (singular formal)

Back 21

usted —

Front 22

he, she

Back 22

él, ella —

Front 23

we

Back 23

nosotros, nosotras —

Front 24

you (plural familiar)

Back 24

vosotros, vosotras —

Front 25

you (plural formal)

Back 25

ustedes —

Front 26

they

Back 26

ellos, ellas —

Front 27

Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns Possessive Adjectives Possessive Pronouns

Back 27

I me my mine

I I work in Portland. me She gave me the book. my That is my house. mine That car is mine.

Front 28

you you your yours

Back 28

you You like listening to music. you Peter bought you a present. your Your subject is English. yours That book is yours.

Front 29

he him his his

Back 29

he him his his

he He lives in Seattle. him She told him the secret. his His wife is from Italy. his That dog over there is his.

Front 30

she her her hers

Back 30

she her her hers

she She went on vacation last week. her I asked her to come with me. her Her name is Christa. hers That house is hers.

Front 31

it it its ----

Back 31

it it its ----

it It seems hot today! it Jack gave it to Alice. its Its color is black. ---- ----

Front 32

we us our ours

Back 32

we us our ours

we We enjoy playing golf. us The teacher taught us French. our Our car is very old. ours That poster on the wall is ours.

Front 33

you you your yours

Back 33

you you your yours

you You can come to the party. you I passed out the books to you last week. your I have your tests corrected for you today. yours The responsibility is all yours.

Front 34

they them their theirs

Back 34

they them their theirs

they They are students at this school. them The state provided them with insurance. their It's difficult to understand their meaning. theirs The house on the corner is theirs.

Front 35

Verbal object pronoun — functions as the object of a verb — él (him), ella (her), me (me), ellos (them) — No puedo verlo. I can't see it.

Back 35

— él (him), ella (her), me (me), ellos

Front 36

Reflexive pronoun — used when the direct object and the subject of a verb refer to the same person. These are used much more in Spanish than in English. — me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself, herself, themselves) — Juan se baña. John is bathing himself.

Back 36

me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself, herself, themselves) —

Front 37

Prepositional object pronoun — used as the object of a preposition — mí (me), ella (her), nosotros (us) — Raúl lo compró para nosotros. Raúl bought it for us.The third-person singular direct object pronouns are lo (masculine) and la (feminine), while in the plural, they are los and las. But the indirect object pronouns are le and les in the singular and the plural, respectively. No distinction is made according to gender.

Back 37

lo (masculine) and la (feminine), while in the plural, they are los and las.

Front 38

Prepositional object pronoun — used as the object of a preposition — Raúl lo compró para nosotros. Raúl bought it for us.

Back 38

mí (me), ella (her), nosotros (us) —

Front 39

Prepositional reflexive pronoun — used when the object of a preposition following a verb refers back to the verb's subject — mí (myself), sí (himself, herself, itself, themselves) — María lo compró para sí mismo. María bought it for herself.

Note that with the exception of sí, the pronouns are the same as the prepositional object pronouns that aren't used reflexively.

Back 39

mí — myself — Lo compré para mí. (I bought it for myself.)
ti — yourself (informal) — Lo compraste para ti. (You bought it for yourself.)
sí — himself, herself, itself, themselves, yourself (formal), yourselves (formal) — Vicente lo compró para sí. (Vicente bought it for himself.) Valentina lo compró para sí. (Valentina bought it for herself.) El robot lo hizo por sí. (The robot did it by itself.) Ellos lo compraron para sí. (They bought it for themselves.) Usted lo compró para sí. (You bought it for yourself.) Ustedes lo compraron para sí. (You bought it for yourselves.)
nosotros — ourselves — Lo compramos para nosotros. (We bought it for ourselves.)
vosotros — yourselves (informal, used primarily in Spain) — Lo comprasteis para vosotros. (You bought it for yourselves.)

Front 40

Indefinite pronoun — refers to nonspecific people or things — algo (something), nadie (nobody), alguien (anybody), todo (all), todas (all), uno (one), unos (some), ninguno (none) — Nadie puede decir que su vida es perfecta. Nobody can say his life is perfect.

Back 40

algo (something), nadie (nobody), alguien (anybody), todo (all), todas (all), uno (one), unos (some), ninguno (none) — Nadie

Front 41

Relative pronoun — introduces a clause that gives more information about a noun or pronoun — que (that, which, who, whom), quien (who, whom), cuyo (whose), cuyas (whose), donde (where), lo cual (which, that which) — Nadie puede decir que su vida es perfecta. Nobody can say that his life is perfect.

Back 41

que (that, which, who, whom), quien (who, whom), cuyo (whose), cuyas (whose), donde (where), lo cual (which, that which) —

Front 42

Interrogative pronoun — used in questions — qué (what), quién (what), cuándo (when) — ¿Cuál es tu problema? What is your problem? (Note that interrogative pronouns in Spanish use an orthographic accent.)

Back 42

qué (what), quién (what), cuándo (when) — ¿Cuál es tu problema? What is your problem?

Front 43

They can fulfill any role in a sentence that a noun can, and some of them vary in form depending on whether they're used as a subject or an object. Probably the biggest difference is that in Spanish most pronouns have gender

Back 43

Probably the biggest difference is that in Spanish most pronouns have gender