Subject pronouns and tú / usted
Spanish verbs show the person in their ending, so subject pronouns are usually left out: Hablo español = I speak Spanish.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | yo (I) | nosotros / nosotras (we) |
| 2nd informal | tú (you) | vosotros / vosotras (you all, Spain) |
| 2nd formal | usted (Ud.) | ustedes (Uds.) |
| 3rd | él (he), ella (she) | ellos / ellas (they) |
tú or usted?
- tú for friends, family, children and, in Spain, most people your age.
- usted for strangers, older people and formal situations. It takes the 3rd person verb: ¿Cómo está usted?
- vosotros is used only in Spain. In Latin America ustedes is the plural for everyone.
When to use the pronoun
Use it for emphasis or contrast: Yo trabajo y tú descansas. Also when the verb form is ambiguous: él / ella / usted habla.
Examples
- Somos de Kyiv.We are from Kyiv.
- ¿Usted es la doctora Ruiz?Are you Doctor Ruiz?
- Ella es médica y él es profesor.She is a doctor and he is a teacher.
- ¿Vosotros venís esta noche?Are you all coming tonight?
- Somos de Kyiv.We are from Kyiv.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Tú es amable.✓ Tú eres amable.English “you are” has one form for everyone. In Spanish tú has its own verb form, eres.
- ✗ Usted eres amable.✓ Usted es amable.Usted is the formal “you” but it takes the third-person verb es, not the tú form.
- ✗ Ustedes sois amables.✓ Ustedes son amables.Ustedes is the plural “you” and takes the third-person plural son. Sois belongs to vosotros.
- ✗ Ella y yo son amigos.✓ Ella y yo somos amigos.“She and I” means “we”, so the verb is the nosotros form somos, not the form for “they”.
- ✗ Nosotros es estudiantes.✓ Nosotros somos estudiantes.Each pronoun needs its own verb form; English “we are” and “is” look similar, but Spanish es is only for él, ella and usted.