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Pronouns
A Pronoun in Spanish as well as in English is like a shortcut to refer to a noun, a word that stands for or
represents a noun or noun phrase, a pronoun is identified only in the context of the sentence in which they
are used. So you must have a prior idea about who "he or she" "él or ella" is. In English we find "me, her,
what, that, his", In Spanish they're used pretty much the same way, the main difference is that in Spanish
most pronouns have a gender, masculine or feminine and rarely neuter to unknown objects or ideas.
Types of pronouns include personal pronouns (refer to the persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the
persons or things spoken about), indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns (connect parts of sentences) and
reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted on by verb's subject).
This table below shows examples of all pronouns categories in Spanish:
Spanish Pronouns
Type of Pronouns Use
Examples in Spanish (English)
Yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), nosotros (we), ellos
(they), ellas (they)
Subject
Replaces the subject of a sentence
Possessive
Refers to something owned or possessed Mío (mine), mía (mine), míos (mine), mías (mine),
by someone. usually preceded by
tuyo/a (yours), suyo/a (his, hers, theirs), nuestro/a
el/la/los/las
(ours), Vuestro/a (yours)
Reflexive
Used when the direct object and indirect Me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself, herself,
object of a verb refer to the same person. themselves), nos (ourselves), os (yourselves)
Used more often in Spanish.
Indefinite
Used to refer to nonspecific people or
things
Algo (something), alguien (anybody), nadie
(nobody), todo (all), todas (all), uno (one), unos
(some), ninguno (none), mucho (many), poco (little)
Relative
Introduces a clause that gives more
information about a noun or pronoun
Que (that, which, who, whom), quien (who, whom),
el cual (which, that which) cuyo (whose), cuyas
(whose), donde (where), el que (that, which)
Interrogative
Used in questions
Qué (what), quién (what), cuándo (when), cuánto
(when)
Demonstrative
Replaces a noun while also pointing to it Éste (this one), ésta (this one), ésa (that one),
aquéllos (those ones), aquél (that one over there)
Prepositional
Function as the object of a verb or
Mi (me), ti(you), él, nosotros, vosotros...(except mi
preposition, used after prepositions, often and ti, the rest is the same as in subject pronouns)
in order to emphasize the noun they
replace
Indirect Object
Pronoun
They’re words that replace the indirect
object, which is usually a person.
Me (me), te(you), le (him, her, you (formal), nos (us),
vos (you), les (them) Me da gusto ( it gives me
pleasure). Te quiero (I love you)
Subject pronouns:
Subject pronouns replace the subject of the sentence, they're very easy to use, and this is a complete list of them with
their English equivalent:
Subject Pronoun in Spanish
Singular
yo - I , tú - you (familiar), él - he, ella - she, usted - you (formal),
Plural
nosotros We (masculine or mixed gender), nosotras we (feminine),
vosotros you-all (familiar, Spain, masculine or mixed gender)
vosotras you-all (familiar, Spain, feminine), ellos they (masculine or
mixed gender), ellas they (feminine)
ustedes you-all (formal in Spain, formal and familiar in Latin America)
Spanish Possessive Pronouns:
Possessive pronouns refer to something owned or possessed by someone. Usually preceded by el/la/los/las, used the
same way in both languages:
Mine= el mío / la mía /los míos / las mías.
Yours (familiar) = el tuyo / la tuya /los tuyos / las tuyas.
Yours (formal), his, hers= el suyo / la suya /los suyos / las suyas.
Ours= el nuestro / la nuestra/ los nuestros / las nuestras.
Yours (familiar) = el vuestro / la vuestra / los vuestros / las vuestras.
Yours (formal), theirs= el suyo / la suya /los suyos / las suyas
Possessive Pronouns in Spanish
Possessive pronouns
Masculine
Feminine
Mine
el (los) mío(s)
la(s) mía(s)
Yours (tú)
el (los) tuyo(s)
la(s) tuya(s)
His/hers/its/yours (Ud.)
el (los) suyo(s)
la(s) suya(s)
Ours
el (los) nuestro(s)
la(s) nuestra(s)
Yours (vosotros)
el (los) vuestro(s)
la(s) vuestra(s)
Theirs/yours (Uds.)
el (los) suyo(s)
la(s) suya(s)
Below, are examples of pronoun adjectives, compare them to the possessive pronoun shown on the table
above,
mi(s)= my, mi coche (my car) mis amigas (my friends), tu(s)= your (singular) tu hermano (your brother) tus
amigos, su(s)= his, her, your (formal), their
su dinero (his money), sus plumas
nuestro(-a, -os, -as)= our, nuestro plato (our plate), nuestras casas, vuestro(-a, -os, -as)= your (fam. pl.),
vuestro radio, vuestras plumas .
Note: don’t confuse between the three forms of possessive:
Possessive adjective (short/unstressed form): mi, tu, su, nuestro/a, vuesto/a , nuestra casa (our house).
Possessive adjective (long/stressed form): mío, tuyo , es un amigo tuyo ( he is a friend of yours).
Possessive pronoun: el mío, el tuyo, es el mío (it’s mine)
Prepositional Pronouns in Spanish
Spanish prepositional pronouns are used after prepositions, often in order to emphasize the noun they
replace. There are 11 forms of prepositional pronouns, The only difference between prepositional pronouns
and subject pronouns is the first and second person in the singular, (mí and ti instead of yo and tú), plus we
have a neuter form ello in the prepositional pronoun.
Prepositional Pronouns
Singular
Plural
Me
mí
Us
nosotros
You
ti
You
vosotros
Him, it
él
Them
ellos
Her, it
ella
Them
ellas
You
Ud.
You
Uds.
It
ello
Examples:
A mi, no me gusta el carne de cerdo = me (to me), I don't like pork
Quiero estudiar con ellos = I want to study with them
Tengo un regalo para ti = I have a gift for you.
But we also have ello which is for neuter, No tengo tiempo para ello = I don't have time for that.
estoy occupado, y por ello no puedo ir al cine= I'm busy, that's why I can't go to the movies.
Exceptions: We use subject pronouns after the prepositions como (like), entre (between), excepto (except),
incluso (including), menos (except), salvo (except), and según (according to). Example: necesito un amigo
como tú = I need a friend like you.
And also when paired with another pronoun: - para él y ella - por tú o yo.
Spanish Reflexive Pronouns:
Reflexive pronouns in Spanish are closely related to direct and indirect pronouns, by following the same
rules of word order and using almost same pronouns.
I wash myself: me baño. What’s your name? (What do you call yourself?) cómo te llamas. So all pronouns
ending in -self (-selves) are considered reflexive pronouns, in Spanish there're (me, te, se, nos, os, se), see
table below for more detail.
Spanish Reflexive Pronouns
Person
Spanish English equivalent
Example
First-person
singular
me
myself
Me baño, I wash
myself.
Second-person
singular familiar
te
yourself
Te bañas, you wash
yourself.
Second-person
singular formal,
third-person
singular
se
yourself, himself,
herself, itself, oneself
Ella se baña, she
washes herself.
ourselves
Nos bañamos, we
wash ourselves.
yourselves
Os bañais, you wash
yourselves.
yourselves, themselves
Se bañan, they wash
themselves.
First-person plural nos
Second-person
plural familiar
os
se
Second-person
plural formal,
third-person plural
Indefinite Pronouns in Spanish
Indefinite pronouns are those pronouns that typically refer to no particular person or thing. In Spanish as in
English, most of the words used as indefinite pronouns sometimes they function as other parts of speech,
often as adjectives and sometimes as adverbs. In Spanish, some of the indefinite pronouns exist in both
masculine and feminine forms as well as singular and plural forms, so they must agree with the nouns they
refer to.
Here is a list of the most common Spanish indefinite pronouns:
Spanish Indefinite Pronouns
Spanish
Examples
alguien (someone,
somebody, anyone,
anybody)
Necesito a alguien que pueda hablar inglés. (I need someone who can speak English.)
alguno, alguna, algunos,
algunas
Voy a salir con algunas de las chicas. (I'm going out with one of the girls.) Algunos
quieren bailar. (Some want to dance.) ¿Quieres alguno más? (Do you want some
more?)
(one, some things or
people)
algo (something)
busco algo grande y barato. (I’m looking for something big and cheap.) ¿escuchaste
algo esta tarde? (Did you hear something this afternoon?)
cualquiera (anybody,
anyone)
Cualquiera puede jugar El fútbol. (Anyone can play soccer.)
mucho, mucha, muchos,
muchas (much, many)
El sitio web tiene mucho que ofrecer. (The website has much to offer.) Hay muchos.
(There are many problems.) Nos queda mucho por hacer. (We have much left to do.)
nada (nothing)
No tengo nada para ti. (I have nothing for you.) (When nada follows a verb, the part
of the sentence preceding the verb typically is also put in negative form)
nadie (nobody, no one)
No conocemos a nadie. (we know nobody.) Nadie te crees. (No one believes you.)
Note that when nadie follows a verb, the part of the sentence preceding the verb
typically is also put in negative form.
ninguno, ninguna (none, Ninguna de ellas tiene dinero. (None of them have money) (When ninguno follows a
nobody, no one)
verb, the part of the sentence preceding the verb typically is also put in negative form.
Otro/a, otros/as (another, Me puedes traer otro? (Can you bring me another one?) Los otros estan judando con
other one, another one,
el perro. (The others are playing with the dog). (Un otro and una otra are not used for
other ones, others)
"another one)
Poco/a, pocos/as (little,
little bit, few, a few)
Tengo un poco de hambre. (I’m a little bit hungry.) Pocos van a la playa (A few are
going to the beach.)
todo, todos, todas
Tú comes todo. (You eat everything.) Todos pensan en su futuro. (All are thinking
(everything, all, everyone) about their future)
uno, una, unos/as (one,
some)
Uno no puede creer sin ver. (One cannot believe without seeing.) Unos libros son
aburridos. (Some books are boring.)
Tanto (as much)
Quiero ir contigo, pero no tengo tanto tiempo (I want to go with you but I don’t as
much time)