A1 Grammar G-A1-01 ≈ 12 min Pairs with video A1-18 ▸

Subject pronouns: yo, tú, él, ella…

I, you, he, she, we, they. Spanish has a word for each, and four different ways to say “you”.

PART01

Theory

Learn the pronouns first: every verb table in Spanish follows this order.

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	yoITalking about yourself.	nosotrosweYou plus others, when the group has at least one man (or you don’t know). nosotraswe (all female)You plus others, when everyone in the group is female.
2nd	túyou (informal)Talking to one friend, family member, child or someone your age.	vosotrosyou all (informal)Talking to a group of friends or family in Spain, with at least one man. vosotrasyou all (all female)Talking to a group of women or girls you know well, in Spain.
3rd	élheTalking about one man or boy. ellasheTalking about one woman or girl. ustedyou (formal)Talking to one person politely: a boss, a doctor, an older stranger. Uses the él verb.	ellostheyTalking about a group of men, or a mixed group. ellasthey (all female)Talking about a group of women or girls. ustedesyou all (formal)Talking to a group politely in Spain, and to any group in Latin America.

Word	Use it for
tú	one friend, family member, child
usted	one person, formally (a boss, an older stranger)
vosotros/as	a group of friends — in Spain
ustedes	a group, formally — and every group in Latin America

Pronoun	Example
nosotros	Pedro y yo Nosotros somos amigos. Pedro and I: we’re friends.
nosotras	Ana y yo (both women) Nosotras somos hermanas. Ana and I: we’re sisters.
vosotros	tú y Luis ¿Vosotros sois de aquí? You and Luis: are you (all) from here?
vosotras	tú y Marta (both women) Vosotras sois muy simpáticas. You and Marta: you’re very nice.
ellos	Juan y Carlos Ellos son de México. Juan and Carlos: they’re from Mexico.
ellos	Juan y María (mixed) Ellos son mis padres. Juan and María: they’re my parents.
ellas	Sofía y Elena Ellas son estudiantes. Sofía and Elena: they’re students.
ustedes	el señor y la señora García ¿Ustedes son de Madrid? Mr and Mrs García: are you from Madrid?

Just one man in the group and the whole group takes the -os form. In Latin America, tú + él and tú + ella are both ustedes.

The verb already says who:
Hablo español = I speak Spanish.

Use the pronoun for emphasis:
Yo soy de Madrid y él es de Lima. = I’m from Madrid and he’s from Lima.

nosotras, vosotras, ellas = we, you all, they (all female)

One man in the group →
nosotros, vosotros, ellos = we, you all, they

Usted es muy amable. = You’re very kind.
Ustedes son muy amables. = You (all) are very kind.

tú = you
tu = your

Tú y tu hermano. = You and your brother.

él = he
el = the

Él es el profesor. = He is the teacher.

Es grande. = It’s big.
Llueve. = It’s raining.