In Spanish, you will find five different kinds of pronouns (pronouns take the place of noun.) These pronouns are subject, reflexive, indirect, direct, and object of a preposition. Each pronoun has an English translation.
Subject pronouns are followed by a verb
| Yo = I | nosotros =we |
| Tú= you familiar | vosotros=you all Spain |
| él, ella = he, she | ellos, ellas = they |
| usted = you formal, polite | ustedes = you all Latin America |
Objects of prepositions
common prepositions are: de, en, con, sin, por, para, sobre and lots more.
| mí= me (special form for conmigo) with mi | nosotros =us | |
| tí=you (special form for contigo) with you | vosotros=you all Spain | |
| él, ella = him, her | ellos, ellas = them | |
| usted = you formal, polite | ustedes = you all Latin America |
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject. Reflexive verbs are generally used with your daily routine. A verb can be reflexive or non-reflexive and the English translation might change.
| Me = myself | nos = ourselves |
| Te = yourself | os = yourselves |
| se = himself, herself, yourself | se= themselves, yourselves |
| note: we do not say ....self in english, but you must remember that that is what the spanish speaker is saying |
Indirect Object pronouns
Indirect objects answer the question verb TO whom? or verb to what, or for whom? and for what?
| me = to me | nos = to us |
| te = to you | os = to yall |
| le= to him, to her, to you | les= to them, to you pl. |
Indirect Object pronouns can have a corresponding or explanatory prepositional phrase
| a mí = to me | a nosotros |
| a tí = to you | a vosotros |
| a él, a ella or a usted | a ellos, a ellas, a ustedes |
You may use the pronoun and the prepositional phrase together
And the prepositional phrase can float around the sentence, but not divide I.o pronoun from verb
| a mí me | a nosotros nos | a | |
| a tí te | a vosotros os | ||
| a él, or a ella or a usted le | a ellos,or a ellas,or a ustedes les |
Direct Object pronouns
Direct Objects answer the question verb What? or verb whom?
I saw Jill. I saw whom? Jill. Jill is the direct object. To change Jill to a pronoun , use la from the chart.
| me = me | nos = us |
| te= you | os = yall |
| lo = him, la = her or either can mean it or you | los = them, las = them or either can mean Yall |
How do the pronouns fit into a sentence? They come before the verb except in three situations.
| Lo veo = I see him (direct) | me hablo = I talk to myself (reflex or indirect) |
| Le escribo = I write to him (indirect | me hablan= they talk to me (indirect) |
| me miro= I look at myself ( reflex or indirect) | me ven= they see me ( direct |
on the end ( and later on the end of affirmative commands)
| Estoy hablandole on end of a gerund | Está buscandolo |
| hableme on the end of affirmative command | dígame |
| voy a escribirte on the end of an infinitive | tengo que buscarlo |