Ce chapitre n'a pas encore été traduit — il s'affiche en anglais.
Pronouns
The one big idea: Spanish verb endings already say who — so subject pronouns are usually dropped. Hablo español is the normal sentence; yo hablo español adds emphasis ("I speak Spanish").
Subject pronouns — and the "you" map
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | yo | nosotros / nosotras |
| 2nd informal | tú | vosotros / vosotras (Spain only) |
| 2nd formal | usted (+ 3rd-person verb) | ustedes |
| 3rd | él / ella | ellos / ellas |
- Latin America has no vosotros: ustedes is every plural "you", formal or not.
- Argentina, Uruguay, much of Central America use vos instead of tú, with its own forms: vos hablás, vos tenés, vos sos.
- usted / ustedes take third-person verbs: ¿Usted habla inglés?
Use the pronoun only for contrast or clarity: Yo trabajo y tú descansas.
Object pronouns (clitics)
They sit directly before the conjugated verb — the biggest word-order shock for English speakers: Te veo = "I see you", literally "you I-see".
| direct (me, him, it…) | indirect (to me, to him…) | |
|---|---|---|
| me | me | me |
| you (tú) | te | te |
| him / it (m.) | lo | le |
| her / it (f.) | la | le |
| us | nos | nos |
| you pl. (Spain) | os | os |
| them / you pl. | los / las | les |
¿El libro? Lo tengo. · Le escribí a María. · No me gusta.
Order when both appear: indirect before direct — Me lo dio (he gave it to me).
le + lo → se lo
Two l- pronouns can't touch: le/les becomes se before lo/la/los/las.
Le lo di→ Se lo di. (I gave it to him/her/you/them — context decides; add a él, a usted… to clarify.)
Attachment
Clitics attach to the end of infinitives, gerunds, and positive commands:
Quiero verte. · Está haciéndolo. · Dámelo. — but negative: No me lo des.
With verb + infinitive, both spots work: Lo quiero ver = Quiero verlo.
Leísmo — a note for Spain
In much of Spain, le is used for a male person as direct object: A Juan le vi ayer (standard: lo vi). It's accepted for people; textbooks and Latin America stick with lo/la. Understand it; you don't need to imitate it.
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