pronombres; take the place of a noun. See also the
pronouns table.
Subject Pronouns
(Subjective case)
yo (I), tú (you fam.), usted (you) / él
(he, it) / ella (she, it);
nosotros (we), vosotros (you fam.), ustedes
(you) / ellos (they) / ellas (they)
Used as subject of a verb, object of a verb (direct or indirect),
reflexive object, preposition object; used mostly for clarity or
emphasis.
Many Latin-American Spanish speakers use vos instead of tú.
Prepositional pronouns
Used after most prepositions (a, para, de , etc.);
same as Subject pronouns except
mí (me), ti (you fam.), sí (himself, herself,
themselves, etc.)
Reflexive pronouns
me (myself), te (yourself fam.), se (yourself,
himself, herself, oneself, itself);
nos (ourselves), os (yourselves fam.), se (yourselves,
themselves)
Used with reflexive verbs (e.g., ¿Cómo se llama? – what
do you call yourself?).
Normally placed before the verb except for positive instructions
(e.g., ¡Siéntese! – Sit down!) and if the verb is an infinitive
or gerund (e.g., Hay que relejarse – One has to relax)
Direct Object Pronouns
(Accusative objective case .. showing cause)
me (me), te (you fam.), lo (you, him, it) / la
(you, her, it); / le (him, usted)
nos (us), os (you fam.), los (you, them) / las
(you, them)
(lo also used as neuter/abstract)
Used to replace a direct object (e.g., el libro → lo).
Normally placed before the verb except for positive instructions
(e.g., Ayúdame – help me) and if the verb is an infinitive
or gerund (e.g., Se fue después de arreglarlo – He left after
fixing it; Al verme entrar – on seeing me enter)
le as a direct object pronoun is leísmo – used in much
of Spain and accepted by RAE (unlike les as a direct object
pronoun). Used as either ‘him’ (a masculine person) or ‘formal you’
(a sort of neuter and polite you).
Indirect Object Pronouns
(Dative objective case .. of giving (<L dat-, dare ‘give’))
me (to me), te (to you fam.), le (to you, to
him, to her, to it);
nos (to us), os (to you fam.), les (to you, to
them)
If le (or les) would be followed by lo (or la)
then se replaces the le or les.
Used to replace a noun phrase involving to or for (e.g., a los
niños → les).
In effect required if there is an indirect object (also ‘signals’
that an indirect object might come later).
Like direct object pronouns, normally placed before the verb except
for positive instructions and if the verb is an infinitive or
gerund.
If both direct and indirect pronouns are used, the indirect comes
first: No se lo dio – He didn’t give it to him
Examples
Direct objects .. answer ‘what?’ or ‘who?’:
Juan lee el libro – Juan reads the book
Indirect objects .. answer ‘to whom?’ or ‘for whom?’:
Juan lee el libro a los niños – Juan reads
the book to the children
Yo compré los regalos para ti – I bought the presents
for you
Direct object pronouns .. appear before the verb:
Juan lo lee – Juan reads it
Indirect object pronouns .. also appear before the verb:
Juan les lee el libro a los niñas
Yo te compré los regalos para ti
.. and, being pronouns, allow the indirect object to be dropped
if known (pronoun still appears before the verb):
Juan les lee el libro a ellas – Juan reads
the book to them (the females; intermediate clarification)
Juan les lee el libro – Juan reads the
book to them (context assumed)
Yo te compré los regalos – I bought the
presents for you
.. indirect first if both direct and indirect pronouns:
Yo te los compré – I bought them for you
.. and se for le or les if followed by lo,
etc.:
Juan se lo lee – Juan reads it to them
¿Has dado el libro a Juan? ... Sí, se lo he
dado. – Did you give the book to John? ... Yes, I gave it to
him.
Other pronouns
cuánto/a/os/as† – how much/many
este/a/os/as† – this/these (see also this and that)
—–
† – also used as an adjective