Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns are used to replace a noun which is the subject of the verb, in other words, the person or thing that is doing the action in the sentence.

The words I, you, he, she, we, you and they are subject pronouns, eg Leo juega al fútbol (Leo plays football) becomes él juega al fútbol (he plays football). Subject pronouns are mostly used for emphasis in Spanish:

you (singular)
ustedyou (formal singular)
nosotroswe (all male or a mixed group)
nosotras we (all female)
vosotrosyou (plural - all male or a mixed group)
vosotrasyou (plural - all female)
ellosthey (all male or a mixed group)
ellasthey (all female)
ustedesyou (formal plural)

Different ways of saying "you"

There are different ways of saying you in Spanish:

  • use to talk to one person
  • use vosotros for more than one person
  • usted and ustedes mean you in formal situations, eg a job interview, talking to a head teacher, talking to someone you don't know etc.
  • The masculine forms nosotros, vosotros and ellos are all used for a mixed group of males and females, even if there are more females than males in the group.

Replace the subject in bold with the correct subject pronoun.

  1. Joel vive en Madrid.
  2. Isabella y Elena fueron al cine.
  3. Miguel y yo estamos muy contentos.
  4. Ana, Susana y Pedro van al mismo colegio.
  1. Él vive en Madrid (He lives in Madrid).
  2. Ellas fueron al cine (They went to the cinema).
  3. Nosotros estamos muy contentos (We are very happy).
  4. Ellos van al mismo colegio (They go to the same school).