Personal pronouns are words that help us replace the subject or noun in a sentence so that we don’t need to name them.
Grammatically, they have the same function as in English, so understanding them is very easy.
The following table shows each of the personal pronouns that exist in Spanish.
Singular personal pronouns
In the Articles in Spanish lesson we saw the definite article “el”, you may have seen in the previous table the personal pronoun “él” sounds exactly the same and looks similar. The personal pronoun has an accent, the definite article does not. It can be common for Spanish speakers to write the pronoun without the accent, either out of ignorance or for speed, the most important thing is that it is a very common mistake.
“Tú” vs “usted” in Spanish
The pronoun usted is much more formal than tú. We use the pronoun tú” with old acquaintances, friends in an informal setting, “usted” is used when we meet someone for the first time, when talking to older people, at a business meeting or a boss.
It is not uncommon for people to not want to be treated so formally and to let you know this, they might say it in the following way:
Plural personal pronouns
Difference between “vosotros” and “ustedes” in Spanish
“Vosotros” and “ustedes” are used when we address more than one person, the difference is that in Latin America “ustedes” is used and in Spain “vosotros” is used. You can use the one you like the most, Spanish speakers will understand you perfectly.
It will be very common that if you study Spanish in Europe you will hear “vosotros”, on the other hand if you are in the Americas you will be in contact with Latin Americans who will use “ustedes”.
When to use “ellos” or “ellas” in Spanish
The masculine personal pronoun “ellos” is used when referring to a group of males, or a group formed by males and females.
The feminine personal pronoun “ellas” is used when referring to a group of females, there should be no males included in this group.
Final considerations
Personal pronouns are of great importance when we want to make a sentence simpler without having to say names or nouns, it works in a very similar way to the English language. Take into account the difference between the plurals “they” and “them” and the rest will be a piece of cake.