Personal pronouns

Unit 17 (Unidad 17)
Personal pronouns (Los pronombres
personales)
Level 1
1.1 Personal pronoun as subject (Pronombre personal como sujeto)
1.2 Personal pronoun as direct object (Pronombre personal como
objeto/complemento directo)
1.3 Personal pronoun as indirect object (Pronombre personal como
objeto/complemento indirecto)
1.4 Pronouns with prepositions / (disjunctive pronouns) (Pronombres con
preposiciones / [pronombres disyuntivos])
1.1 Personal pronoun as subject
i The following personal pronouns are regularly used as the subject of a sentence:
Yo compro una casa Ibuy a house
T
´
u compras una casa Yo ubuy a house
´
El/Ella/Ud. compra una casa He/She/You buy(s) a house
Nosotros/as compramos una casa We (males) / We (females) buy a house
Vosotros/as compr´ais una casa Yo u (males) / You (females) buy a house
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. compran una casa They (males) / They (females) / You buy a
house
ii A number of comments are to be made here. The first is that the yo / t ´u/nosotros/as /
vosotros/as forms are not used very frequently since the verb endings make it clear
who is being referred to. Secondly, if there is a mixture of males and females the
masculine forms are used, i.e. nosotros, vosotros, ellos. The female forms nosotras,
vosotras, ellas would only be used if females alone were referred to. The vosotros/as
forms are not used in Spanish America and are replaced entirely by Uds. This is also
true of Spanish spoken in the United States. This feature could be disconcerting for a
Spanish speaker from Spain who would normally use the more friendly, intimate form

vosotros/as. The present author who has experienced innumerable years of Iberian
and Mexican Spanish still has some problems accommodating the Uds. form within an
intimate or family situation. Conversely, Mexican speakers of Spanish find the
vosotros/as forms antiquated and quaint. The younger Mexican generation would
doubtless have difficulty using the corresponding verb form – platic ´ais (habl ´ais) (you
speak), corr ´eis (you run), ped´ıs (you ask for), etc. – while forms of the preterit or
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17 Personal pronouns
imperfect subjunctive would doubtless be a mystery to them: hablasteis (you spoke),
hablarais/hablaseis (you should speak). Needless to say, therefore, you are in good
company if you have initial problems conquering some forms of the Spanish
imperfect subjunctive. Finally, the t´u form is the familiar mode of address when you
are speaking to someone you know (well), while the passage from the Ud./Uds. forms
to this familiar t´u, and vosotros/as forms is much easier in Spain and Mexico than in
France, for example, where the vous form, instead of tu, still holds considerable sway.
In this sense, Spain and Mexico are similar to Italy (Lei to tu). (See level 2 for further
treatment of the t´u and Ud. forms.)
1.2 Personal pronoun as direct object
i The following personal pronouns are all in common use as direct objects. Note that
these direct objects (and indirect ones), precede the verb, apart from with the
infinitive, the positive imperative, and the gerund (see level 2.1).
Ella me ve She sees me
Ella te ve ...you(one person)
Ella lo/le ve ...him/you/it (m.)
Ella la ve ...her/it (f.)
Ella nos ve ...us
Ella os ve ...you(more than one person) (not in M)
Ella los/les ve ...them/you (m., or m. and f.)
Ella las ve ...them/you (f.)
ii The following comments are to be borne in mind. You cannot separate the direct

object pronoun from the verb. In other words, you cannot put me/te, etc., in any
other part of the sentence. Furthermore, as with the subject pronoun t´u, te refers to
a person whom you are addressing and you know (well). Lo and le are both used for
him and male you (whom you do not know well) but the use of lo is much more
extensive, and is used over the whole of Spanish America and therefore includes
Mexico, and many parts of Spain. Castilla La Vieja and northern Spain generally,
together with the traditional literature of much of Spain, still adhere to the use of le
for him as direct object, and you as direct object for a person you are addressing but
do not know well. If you read much Spanish literature of the traditional kind you will
find le comes more readily than lo.
In a recent survey recorded by Manuel Seco (Dudas y dificultades de la lengua espa˜nola), by
far the higher percentage of Spanish authors use the le form as opposed to the lo form.
However, this problem should not be exaggerated for both are acceptable, although you
will rarely, if at all, hear le for him / male you as direct object in Mexico or anywhere
else in Spanish America. Lo is used for objects, i.e. things which are masculine. Le is not
possible here.
Theremarks on le and lo also apply to the plurals les and los, although los is more
common, even in Spain, than les with the meaning of you/them as plural direct object.
La refers to a female person = her, and to objects which are feminine. It is also used
when addressing a female you do not know well.
Nos covers both males and females. There is no distinctive female form. The same
may be said for os. Os is not used in Spanish America and is replaced by los,or
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
las, the corresponding object pronoun forms of the subject pronouns ellos/ellas/
Uds.
Los and las are used for masculine and feminine objects, respectively.
Further examples with all the combinations:
Ellos me esperan They are waiting for me
Ellos te esperan They are waiting for you (one person whom

you know well)
Ellos le esperan They are waiting for you (one male person
whom the speaker does not know well) /
They are waiting for him (only in certain
northern and central parts of Spain)
Ellos lo esperan They are waiting for him (in all Spanish
America and much of southern Spain)
Ellos la esperan They are waiting for her
Ellos la esperan They are waiting for you (one female person
whom the speaker does not know well)
Ellos lo esperan They are waiting for you (one male person
whom the speaker does not know well,
over much of southern Spain and all
Spanish America)
Ellos lo esperan They are waiting for it (masculine noun)
(e.g. un tren = train)
Ellos la esperan They are waiting for it (feminine noun) (e.g.
una comida = meal)
Ellos nos esperan They are waiting for us
Ellos os esperan They are waiting for you (more than one
person whom the speaker knows well,
and in Spain, not Spanish America)
Ellos les esperan They are waiting for them (male persons, or
male(s) and female(s), in central and
northern Spain)
Ellos los esperan They are waiting for them (male persons
which can include female persons and
used in southern Spain and all Spanish
America) (also used everywhere for
masculine objects, e.g. trenes = trains)

Ellos los esperan They are waiting for you (male persons,
which can include female persons, whom
the speaker may or may not know well, in
all Spanish America)
Ellos las esperan They are waiting for them (female persons
or feminine objects)
Ellos las esperan They are waiting for you (female persons
whom the speaker does not know well in
southern Spain, and knows or does not
know well in all Spanish America)
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17 Personal pronouns
1.3 Personal pronoun as indirect object
Thefollowing personal pronouns as indirect objects are all in common use:
Ella me ense˜na el libro She shows the book to me
Ella te ense˜na el libro She shows the book to you (singular)
Ella le ense˜na el libro She shows the book to him/her/you
(singular)
Ella nos ense˜na el libro She shows the book to us
Ella os ense˜na el libro She shows the book to you (plural)
Ella les ense˜na el libro She shows the book to them/you (plural)
Yo u will notice that le,asanindirect object, covers (to / for) him, her and the non-familiar
form for you. Os is used as the familiar plural form for you. It is not used in Spanish
America. It is replaced by les.The one felicitous result in these indirect forms is that
they are much simpler than the direct forms. At least, no room for complaint here,
compared to 1.2 immediately above.
1.4 Pronouns with prepositions (disjunctive pronouns)
i Pronouns used after prepositions are as follows:
para m´ı, para ti, para ´el, para ella, para ello, para Ud., para s´ı, para nosotros/as, para vosotros/as,
para Uds., para ellos, para ellas (but see level 2.3).

ii These pronouns are used after a range of prepositions such as a, ante, contra, de,
dentro, hacia, por, sin, tras (see unit 23 on prepositions for the full range)
Examples
Hablan de m´ı They speak of me
Lo hago por ti Idoitforyou
Voy por ´el Iamgoing (to get) him
Se dirige hacia ella He makes his way towards her
Puedes ir sin m´ı Yo u can go without me
El detective va tras ella The detective goes behind her
When used with con (with), the pronoun is modified and is attached to con in the
following three cases:
¿Quieres ir conmigo? Do you want to go with me?
Voy contigo Iamgoing with you
Mi hermana est´a enfadada consigo My sister is angry with herself
Exercises
Level 1
i Replace the noun by a pronoun as in the example
Compro el peri´odico > Lo compro
a Hago el ejercicio d Cierro el libro
b Limpio el coche e Compro el boleto (M)/elbillete
c Barren el patio f Venden el sill´on
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
gOyenelruido i Rompo el vaso
hTocamos el piano j Bebo el caf´e
ii Replace the noun by a pronoun as in the example
Canto una canci´on > La canto
aToco la guitarra f Estudiamos la lecci´on
bPongo la mesa g Aplico la regla
cDoy una charla h Queman la salsa

d Abren la puerta i Tomas la carne
e Hacen la faena j Com´eis el pan (not in M)
iii Replace the noun by a pronoun as in the example
Ella barre las habitaciones > Las barre
a Nosotros abrimos las ventanas f ¿Comes t´uchocolates?
b Uds. lavan (M) los platos g Yo prefiero los caballos
c Ellos friegan los cacharros h Ellas traen las llaves
d Ellas arreglan las rec´amaras (M)iNosotras necesitamos los platos
eT´u aprendes las lecciones j Uds. compran los sarapes (M)
iv Answer the questions as in the example
¿Por qu´enocompras un peri´odico? > Lo compro
a ¿Por qu´enovendes la casa?
b ¿Por qu´enopagas las facturas?
c ¿Por qu´enopreparas las arvejas (M)/los guisantes? (peas)
d ¿Por qu´enocomes la cena?
e ¿Por qu´enoestudias las novelas?
f ¿Por qu´enovisitas la ciudad?
g ¿Por qu´enogastas el dinero?
h ¿Por qu´enoescribes el ejercicio?
i ¿Por qu´enoaceptan los regalos?
j ¿Por qu´enoaprenden los idiomas?
v Replace the indirect object (noun) by a pronoun, as in the example
(Bear in mind that, in this exercise, a Spanish speaker prefers to repeat the indirect object
as a pronoun before the verb, as in the example. See Level 2.2.Inthis sense, you have a
very artificial exercise here.)
(Le) doy el libro al chico > Le doy el libro
a Ense˜no el carro (M)alamigo
b Da el regalo a la madre
c Llevan el paquete a los estudiantes
d Muestra la p´agina a la compa˜nera

e Trae los platos al padre
f Compran las tazas a las madres
vi Answer the questions as in the example
¿Lo haces para m´ı? > Lo hago para ti
a ¿Lo compras para ´el? c ¿Las arreglan sin ti?
b ¿Lo venden por m´ı? d ¿La terminas conmigo?
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