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

• 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".

¿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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