Spanish Subject Pronouns: The Ultimate Guide, Examples and Quiz

Examples/sentences of subject pronouns in Spanish

Yo quiero aprender ingles. – I want to learn Spanish. Tu eres muy alto. – You are very tall. Él es un buen vecino. – He is a good neighbour. Ella toma café. – She drinks coffee. Nosotros amamos la comida mexicana. We love Mexican food. Ustedes son locos. – You are crazy. Ellos están enamorados. – They are in love. Es un árbol. – It is a tree.

How to use the subject pronouns in Spanish

• They usually go at the beginning of the sentence.
• In English is mandatory to use it, while in Spanish it’s not.

Spanish	English
Ella come ensalada	She eats salad
Come ensalada	You can not say eats salad, you need to say the pronoun, in this case, it’s “she

Omission of the subject in Spanish

In English, the pronoun indicates who is the subject that performs the action, in Spanish, you can either refer to the subject by explicitly naming it or by only using the conjugated verb.

In the previous example, Ella come ensalada, the pronoun is being clearly used: She. While in the sentence Come ensalada it’s not.

This is because Come is the conjugation of the verb “to eat” for the third person singular El, Ella (He, She).

That is why you can know who is the subject without using “Ella”. You will understand this better later when you learn the lessons on the Spanish verbs.

When to use the subject pronouns in Spanish

In the point above, it was explained that in Spanish you don’t always have to use the pronoun because the conjugated verb, by itself, already tells you who the subject is, and that is why is rarely named.

However, there are times when they must be used:

1. After some propositions to emphasize the subject

¿Y qué van a hacer ustedes? What will you do?

Ella sí que es talentosa She is talented.

2. After the verb “Ser”.

Soy yo It’s me.

3. To point out or by themselves

Quién quiere comer? – Él Who wants to eat? – Him

4. For more clarity or contrast

Ellas estudiaron, pero ustedes no. They studied but you didn’t.

      5. To compare

Él hace más ejercicio que tú He workouts more than you do.

     6. After some propositions

Según tú According to you

The male, female, and the plural of the subject pronouns

Observe this chart carefully, pay special attention to where it says subject, gender, and translation, and then read the explanation below.

Personal subject pronouns in Spanish – Chart
Number	Grammatical person	Subject	Gender	Translation
Singular	1st	I	Male/Female	Yo
	2nd	You	Male/Female	Tú, Usted
	3rd	He	Male	Él
		She	Female	Ella
		It	Neutral	Ello
Plural	1st	We	Male/Female – Only female	Nosotros – Nosotras
	2nd	You	Male/ Female (Latin America)	Ustedes
	2nd	You	Male /Female – Only female. (Spain)	Vosotros – Vosotras
	3rd	They	Male/Female – Only female	Ellos- Ellas

• Yo, Tú , él and ella

The pronouns Yo, Tú (singular), él and ella, I, you, he and she, are singular and always stay the same regardless of the gender of the subject.

Yo juego video juegos  – I play video games	Tú eres hermosa – You are beautiful
Él es buen cocinero – He is a good cook	Ella es maestra – She is a teacher

• Nosotros and ellos 

The pronouns Nosotros, Ellos, We, They, are plural and they do change depending on the gender of the subjects, these pronouns follow these rules:

We	When you talk about males only or both males and females at the same time.	Nosotros
	If you refer to females only.	Nosotras
They	If you talk about males only or both males and females at the same time.	Ellos
	If you talk about females only.	Ellas

Examples

m: Male;  f: Female; m/f: Both genders.

Nosotros somos amigos (m – m/f) We are friends.	Nosotras somos amigas (f) We are friends
Ellos estaban aquí (m – m/f) They were here.	Ellas estaban aquí (f) They were here.

• Ustedes, Vosotras/Vosotras (You in plural)

Ustedes, Vosotras/Vosotras are plural.

In Latin America, you say You in plural just by using Ustedes and that already includes male and female.

In Spain, you can use Vosotros and Vosotras depending on the genders of the persons with whom you’re talking.

Ustedes(Latin America)	When you talk to several persons, no matter their gender.
Vosotros, Vosotras(Spain)	-Use vosotros if you’re talking to more than one person, only male, or both male and females at the same time. – Use vosotras if you’re talking to more than one female.

Vosotros estabais en Madrid (m – m/f) You were in Madrid

Vosotras estabais en Madrid (f) You were in Madrid

How to use Tú/Usted – You in singular

While in English there is only one way to refer to the 2^nd person singular (You), in Spanish there are various, and which one should be used depends on:

1. The kind of relationship you have with the person with whom you’re talking: Casual or formal.
2. The age differences between the subjects.
3. The regional variations: Latin American Spanish, or Spanish from Spain.

The different ways to say you (singular) in Spanish are: Tú, usted, and vos

Tú	If It’s a casual relationship such as a friend, relative, or a young person.
Usted	If it’s a formal relationship, like a boss, someone you don’t know, or someone a lot older.
Vos	In Argentina, Uruguay and few regions of Colombia and Venezuela.

See also: Tú vs Usted: How to Use Each, Differences & Examples 

Summary

As it was explained above Yo, Tú (in singular), El, Ella are simpler, you must learn them by heart and use them whenever you want to say I, you, he, or she.

With Tú in singular, you just need to learn when to use Tu or Usted.

But, you also saw that, regarding the plural forms, there are variations that you need to learn as well, and they need a little more time to digest.

The following chart or list summarizes all this information about the Spanish subject pronouns:

Subject pronouns summary chart
English	Spanish	Number	Person	Gender	Formality
Yo	I	Singular	First person	x	No difference.
Nosotros	We	Plural	First person	Masculine	No difference.
Nosotras	We	Plural	First person	Feminine	No difference.
Tú	You	Singular	Second person	x	Informal or casual
Usted	You	Singular	Second person	x	Formal
Ustedes	You	Plural	Second person	x	Formal and informal (Latin America)
Vosotros	You	Plural	Second person	Masculine or when refers to male and female	(Spain)
Vosotras	You	Plural	Second person	Feminine	(Spain)
Él	He	Singular	Second person	Masculine	No difference.
Ella	She	Singular	Third person	Feminine	No difference.
Ellos	They	Plural	Third person	Masculine or when refers to male and female	No difference.
Ellas	They	Plural	Third person	Feminine	No difference.

Once you know that, you will be able to use them correctly.

Examples In the sentence Maria and Carlos run in the park, the pronoun that replaces Maria and Carlos is They, Ellos in Spanish. Maria and Carlos refer to two persons or more than one person, therefore it’s plural, it’s in the 3rd person and they are male and female, so it’s replaced with the pronoun Ellos.            Spanish Maria y Carlos corren rapido. Ellos corren rápido. Inglish Maria and Carlos run fast. They run fast.   In the example below, “Victoria plays soccer”, the pronoun to be used is Ella because it speaks of only one person, so it’s singular; In the 3rd person and It’s a female. Spanish Victoria juega Domino Ella juega Domino Inglish Victoria plays Domino She plays Domino. This last example is easier because as you could see, Yo, Tú (in singular), El, Ella, I, you, he and she, are pronouns that you just need to learn and then translate.