I, You, He, She, etc.: Subject Pronouns

Here are the Spanish subject pronouns:

yo I	nosotros/nosotras we (masculine or mixed genders)/we (all feminine)
tú you (informal)	vosotros/vosotras  you-all* (masculine or mixed genders,)/you-all* (all feminine)
él/ella he/she, usted/you (formal)	ellos/ellas they (masculine or mixed genders)/they (all feminine) ustedes you-all* (formal)

*You-all is NOT correct English, but is used throughout these grammar lessons as a way to express the concept of you (plural). You could also think of it as you-lot or you-guys.


Note the following:

Yo is only capitalised at the beginning of a sentence:

• Ana y yo vamos al cine.

In English, we use the same word you to refer to one person or a group of people. Spanish distinguishes between singular (tú, usted) and plural (vosotros/vosotras, ustedes).

Spanish speakers have two levels of formality to choose from:

• tú/vosotros/vosotras: friends, co-workers, employees, children or pets
  
  usted/ustedes: your bosses, doctors or other degreed professionals, police officers, clients, acquaintances, strangers or anyone of higher social standing or in authority

The usted and ustedes forms are found with the él/ella and ellos/ellaspronouns and use the he/she/they verb endings, pronouns, etc., even though they mean you/you-all. This indirect form of address is what makes usted/ustedes so formal.

When using the we or you-all (informal) forms, Spanish speakers distinguish between nosotros for all masculine or mixed masculine and feminine (only one masculine  within a group of any number of feminine causes that group to be masculine) or nosotras when we is 'all-girl'. Vosotros/vosotras follow the same rules.

The single forms usted and ustedes are used indiscriminately for masculine and feminine.


One important point to note is the absence of the vosotros form in Latin America, where it is substituted with ustedes:

• I want you-all to listen to me.
  Spain: Quiero que vosotros me escuchéis.
  Latin America: Quiere que ustedes me escuchen.

When speaking with Spaniards who are friends, co-workers, employees or children, use vosotros/vosotras.

When speaking with Latin Americans, whether they are friends, co-workers, employees, children, your boss, doctors or other degreed professionals, police officers, clients, acquaintances, strangers or anyone of higher social standing or with authority -- in short, any group of two or more people -- always use ustedes.


Important note: very often the subject pronoun is left out because the verb ending indicates what the subject is:

• Yo estudio español.
  Estudio español.
  I study Spanish.