Los pronombres sujetos (the subject pronouns)…making sense of the subject

Los sujetos (The subjects):

• Singular (singular)

• Plural (plural)

• First, second or third person (la primera, segunda o tercera persona)

Going from English to Spanish:

• In English we have first, second and third person in our reading and writing.

• First person is basically “I” and “We.” This is simple. If the subject of a sentence is me then the subject is “I.” It is first person singular because it is just me.

¡Yo! ….just me.

• If the subject of a sentence is me and at least one other person, then the subject is the plural of “I.” That means I have added one other person to myself and it is now a plural subject…(more than one) and…it is the first person plural.

¡Nosotros! …we or us.

• In the third person (we will get to the second person in a minute) you are talking about someone and it will be “he,” “she” or “they.” In the third person singular it can only be HE or SHE. It can NEVER BE you.

¡Él! …he

¡Ella! …she

Third person plural

• When you are talking about more than one other person, you will need different words.

• To talk about more than one boy or man, you use ellos.

¡Ellos!

• To talk about more than one girl or lady, you need to use the word ellas.

¡Ellas!

Sujetos (subjects):

• First person singular and plural

• Third person singular and plural

Singular Plural

I (yo)We (nosotros, nosotras)

He (él)She (ella)

They (ellos)They (ellas)

Let’s do it!

• How do you say “I” in Spanish? • How do you say “we” in Spanish?

• (There are two ways but just give me one right now).

• You say:

•YO

• You say:

•NOSOTROS

How do you say:

“He” in Spanish? “She” in Spanish?

• You say:

él

• You say:

ella

Let’s do more!

• First person singular:

• I am tall.

• ______ soy alto (a).

• First person plural:

• We are tall.

• ______________somos altos (as).

• Third person singular:

• He is tall.

• ______ es alto.

• She is tall.

• _____ es alta.

• Third person plural:

• They are tall. (boys)

• _____ son alt__.

• They are tall. (girls)

• _____ son alt__.

You…you…you…!

• In English “you is you.” We say you directly to one friend or more than one friend…a couple or a group. We say you to someone older, younger, a friend, or authority figure…it doesn’t matter.

• In Spanish this is not the case. There are more ways to say you in Spanish.

YOU

FRIEND

PLURAL

SPAIN!

FORMAL

Tú, usted, vosotros y ustedes… What? What are tú, usted, vosotros y ustedes?

The four ways to say you in Spanish. Keep these four words as a group and remember that they mean you.

You…………..

You in Spanish…

• Tú, Usted and ustedes are used all over the world to say you either singular or plural.

¡Tú o usted!

¡Ustedes!

Vosotros… “y’all” (only in Spain)

• The word vosotros is mostly used in Spain and it means “y’all” or “you guys.” Just as in the United States of America we say “y’all” and “you guys” a lot, so do the Spaniards. So, since we use it a lot here, it should be easy to understand another country that does the same thing instead of saying “you” all the time. We do not like to be formal and neither does Spain.

• But most of the other Spanish-speaking people around the world prefer to use usted or ustedes for you, “y’all” and “you guys.” Don’t worry you guys will get it (No te preocupes vosotros vais a comprenderlo).

¡Vosotros!

Subject pronouns (pronombres sujetos):Second person singular: just one person!• Tú (you / casual)

• Usted (you/ formal)

Second person plural: more than one person!• Vosotros (y’all /you guys…Spain

only…the plural of “tú”…more than one person)

• Ustedes (you /plural) Used in a formal way for you plural in Spain.

• Used as casual or formal in all other Spanish-speaking countries.

So here are the subject pronouns in Spanish:• I YO we NOSOTROS/NOSOTRAS

• He ÉL they ELLOS

• She ELLA they ELLAS

• YOU…__________________________________________________________________________________

• You TÚ you guys / y’all (Spain only)VOSOTROS/VOSOTRAS

• You TÚ you guys/y’all(all other countries) USTEDES

• You USTED you (formal /plural…all countries) USTEDES

Now let’s try it!

“¿Cómo estás tú?”

What am I saying?

Who am I speaking to?

Did you say “you” (casual)? “How are you?”

¡Excelente!

¿Cómo estás tú?

¿Cómo está usted?

What am I saying?

Who am I speaking to?

¿Did you say “you”(formal)? “How are you?”

¡Fantástico!

¿Cómo está usted?

What is the plural for usted?

What does it mean?

Did you say “ustedes” and it means you plural?

¡Superior!

Now, here is the tricky one…ready?

What is the subject pronoun for more than one “you guys” or “y’all” in Spain?

Did you say “vosotros?”

¡Fenomenal!

Spanish 1 2013-2014S. Thornton