In this article we’re going to help you with nine Spanish pronouns that will keep your conversations natural. When you start figuring out how to learn Spanish, you’ll find that you don’t use pronouns the same way as in English. Beginning Spanish learners will first notice that the verb conjugations in Spanish are more complex than in English.

Because almost every pronoun has its own verb conjugation, people usually know which pronoun you’re talking about. So you don’t always need to include the pronoun, unless you want it for emphasis. There are two cases where using the pronoun can help avoid confusion:

1. ‘he’ and ‘she’, which share the same conjugation
2. ‘they’ and the plural ‘you’, which may share the same conjugation
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9 Spanish Pronouns That Will Keep Your Conversations Flowing

The first thing to remember when you’re using Spanish pronouns, is that to sound like a native, sometimes the point is NOT to use the pronoun. As we mentioned, the conjugations for most pronouns already demonstrate the pronoun. Most native Spanish speakers would only use the pronoun if they had some good reason for emphasis. Here are some examples:

• No quiero ir al cine mañana.
• Yo no quiero ir al cine mañana.
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In the first sentence, you’re just saying you don’t want to go to the movies tomorrow. In the second sentence by placing ‘yo’ in the start of the sentence, you already give some emphasis that you are the one who doesn’t want to go to the movies. The written form lacks the power of nuance that the spoken voice offers. When you’re speaking, the more you change your tone to stress ‘yo’, the more the listener picks up on the emphasis.
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When the conjugation doesn’t show the Spanish pronoun

The only big exception to this is ‘they’ and ‘you’ sharing the same verb conjugations. Let’s take a look:

• You (plural) want a glass of wine. Ustedes quieran una copa de vino.
• They (women) want a glass of wine. Ellas quieran una copa de vino.
• They (mixed gender or all men) want a glass of wine. Ellos quieran una copa de vino.
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On a side note, it’s important to remember that the plural ‘you’ ustedes is the formal and polite form in mainland Spain. However in the Canary Islands and throughout Latin America ustedes functions as both the formal as well as the informal plural form of ‘you’.

We covered this difference in our article about Spanish pronunciation. Vosotros as the familiar plural form of ‘you’ is only used in mainland Spain. In this case, if there is context, you still don’t need the pronoun. Otherwise, it’s better to use the pronoun to provide a more precise meaning.

Look back at our examples with the glass of wine. If the context is obvious, you can still say quieran una copa de vino, and the people you’re talking to will know whether you mean ‘you all’ or ‘they’. If there is no context, then play it safe by adding the appropriate Spanish pronouns: ellas, ellas, or ustedes.
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Who are you?… ¿tú, Usted, vos, vosotros, ustedes

So far we have introduced five Spanish pronouns: yo, ellos, ellas, vosotros, and ustedes.Now it’s time for our next three pronouns: tú, Usted, vos. All of these are the singular form of ‘you’. You can already see that Spanish has a lot of ways to say ‘you’. As we’ve seen already, it also differs from place to place and from region to region.

Check out this blog that discusses different ways vos is used in Argentina versus Colombia. That means in Spanish there are six ways to write and ask: ‘who are you?’ Let’s take a look at all six.¿Quien...

• eres tú? — familiar, singular (most places, but not Argentina, Costa Rica and Uruguay)
• está Usted? — polite, singular
• sos vos? — familiar, singular (some places in Latin America, especially Argentina, Costa Rica and Uruguay)
• sois vosotros? — familiar, plural (only mainland Spain)
• están ustedes? — plural familiar (not in mainland Spain)
• están Ustedes ?— plural, polite
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To keep things simple for now, just remember that Argentina, Costa Rica and Uruguay are the three main countries where the voseo (use of vos instead of tú) is so widespread that people really appreciate that you use it instead of tú. That leaves us with one more Spanish pronoun for the time being: nosotros.

‍This pronoun means ‘we’. As we mentioned earlier, in Spanish the verb conjugation reveals the pronoun, so you can just say words like: queremos, podemos, vamos, and estamos, and people will know you are saying: we want, we can, we go and we are.

There is a trick though. It’s really two more pronouns we need to mention: nosotros and nosotras. If the group is all female, they will say nosotras. Otherwise they will say nosotros. The kind of pronouns we’ve been looking at are known as personal pronouns.

This basic video can help you review some of the material we’ve covered in this article: That way you can listen to some of the pronunciation as well.

Compare the accents between that video and this one: You’ll especially note a difference in how yo is pronounced. You’ll also see that the English ‘it’ is always represented by ella or ello. This is because every noun in Spanish has a gender. There really is no ‘it’ in the context of English. Looking for a fun and silly way to remember some of this information?

Check out the YouTube video which uses the melody from the Sound of Music ‘Doe a Deer’ song:
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Spanish exercises using personal Spanish pronouns

Now take a look at the following exercises and see if you can recall which personal pronoun to use:

1. (You’re in Argentina talking to a local friend) Would you like to have lunch together?
2. (You’re at an office in Madrid talking to a manager) Did you see the report?
3. (A group of women talking) We are going shopping together tomorrow.
4. (A mixed group talking) We are going shopping together tomorrow.
5. (You’re talking about a table) It needs to be polished.
6. (You’re in mainland Spain talking to a group of local friends) Would you all like to attend my birthday party on Saturday?
7. (You’re in the Canary Islands talking to a group of local friends) Would you all like to attend my birthday party on Saturday?
8. (You’re in Mexico talking to a local friend) Would you like to have lunch together?
9. (You’re talking about a mixed group of colleagues) They are on vacation.
10. (You’re talking about a female group of colleagues) They are on vacation.
11. I want to go to the cinema on Friday evening.

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Use...

• Vos because you are friends and you’re in Argentina. You don’t need the pronoun because querés is the voseo form of querer.
• Usted to show respect.
• Nosotras, because it’s an all-women group.
• Nosotros, because it’s a mixed group of women and men.

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Table is la mesa, which is feminine. So use ella.Use...

• Vosotros because your friends are mainland Spaniards.
• Utedes because your friends are local Canary Islanders.
• Tú as is standard in Mexican Spanish with friends. You can also leave out the pronoun and just say quieres, which is the tú form of querer.

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Use...

1. Ellos because it is a mixed group of men and women.
2. Ellas because it is a group of women.
3. Yo or just skip the pronoun, because the conjugation quiero is the yo form of querer.

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