16 Subject Pronouns
Subject Pronouns exist in both English and Spanish and they act as the subject of a verb, although the need to use them differs between the two languages.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | I | Nosotros (as) | We |
| Tú | You (familiar) | Vosotros (as) | You (fam.) |
| Él | He | Ellos | They (masculine) |
| Ellas | She | Ellas | They (feminine) |
| Usted (Ud.) | You (formal) | Ustedes (Uds.) | You |
Spanish has several different ways to express the idea of “you” as the subject of a sentence:
- Tú: used when talking to a friend, a family member or someone that is younger than you.
- Usted: used when talking to someone you don’t know very well; or to someone in formal situations: to a professor, a boss; or to someone that is older than you. In written Spanish “usted” is often abbreviated as “Ud.” but is always pronounced as “usted”.
- Vosotros: used in Spain, but not in the Americas; used when talking to a group of friends; the feminine form is “vosotras”.
- Ustedes: used when talking to a group of people; it is the plural of “usted”. In written Spanish “ustedes” is often abbreviated as “Uds.” but is always pronounced as “ustedes”.
The feminine forms of “nosotras” and “vosotras” are used when only females are involved. For example, a woman would say “nosotras” to say “we” referring to herself and a female friend. Likewise, if you were in Spain and wanted to address two women you could say “vosotras” to say “you” (you guys = plural), but if you were talking to two men (or a group of men and women), you would say “vosotros”. Whenever there is a mix of men and women involved, the “nosotros” and “vosotros” forms are used.