Defining what verbs, personal pronouns and subject personal pronouns are and taking a look at some verb tenses. | |
Looking at each Spanish subject personal pronoun and comparing them with the English equivalents. | |
Looking at common characteristics that exist with all Spanish verbs. | |
A look at one verb in one particular tense to show how subject personal pronouns and verbs are connected. Looking at when subject personal pronouns might be used with other words. | |
What you can learn from this lesson | |
Understanding what verbs and personal pronouns are and appreciating the differences that exist between how subject personal pronouns are used in both Spanish and English. | |
Knowing when and how to use subject personal pronouns and understanding why sometimes they may not be used in speech. | |
Understanding how Spanish subject personal pronouns are used in conjunction with verbs. Appreciating the importance of gender and being polite. | |
Knowing with which other words, subject personal pronouns are sometimes used with. | |
Appreciating how different verb tenses and whether a verb is regular or irregular affect the way a verb is formed. |
PART 1
The first part of the lesson looks at certain
definitions. What are verbs, personal pronouns in general and more specifically, 'Subject' personal pronouns?
Definition of a verb
‘A doing word which describes what
someone or something does.’ English examples include; to eat / to drink |
Definition of a personal pronoun
‘A word that is used to refer to the person or people that you are
talking to or the people or things you are talking about.’ |
Definition of a 'Subject' personal pronoun
‘A word that is used with a verb or sometimes by itself to show who or what is carrying out the action of the verb.’ An English example; he eats. (The subject personal pronoun - he - is carrying out the action of the verb - to eat. ) |
In language we use certain words; verbs in particular, to indicate whether or not we are talking about somebody or something in the present, past or future. The Spanish language is no exception. The present past and future tenses can also be split into different types. Other verb tenses exist too, such as the ‘hypothetical tenses’ or the ‘command tenses’.
At this stage it is important not to get too confused with the number and usage of different verb tenses. Instead it is better to think about three basic tenses as indicated in the example below.
present simple tense – example | I walk | yo camino | or just | camino |
past simple tense – example | I walked | yo caminé | or just | caminé |
future simple tense – example | I will walk | yo caminaré | or just | caminaré |
PART 2
The second part of the lesson looks at subject personal pronouns. Below, is a list of each of the Spanish and English subject personal pronouns.
yo | I |
tú | you |
él | he |
ella | she |
usted | you (more formal / respectful) |
nosotros / nosotras | we (masculine and feminine) |
vosotros / vosotras | you (all) - (masculine and feminine) |
ellos/ ellas | they (masculine and feminine) |
ustedes | you (all) (more formal / respectful) |
¿Cómo están las papas? Están duras | How are the potatoes? They're hard. | they, is referred to by the potatoes |
¿Qué es? | What is it? | it, is implied and does not need to be specified |
Different Spanish subject pronouns which mean 'you' in English
In English we use the pronoun 'you' to refer to both male and female individuals and groups of people. In Spanish a different pronoun is used for each. There is also another form that is used when we want to talk to individuals or groups of people in a more polite way.
Spanish | English | When the Spanish pronoun is used |
tú | you | used to refer to a friend or someone we know well |
usted (Ud or Vd) | you | used to refer to someone we don't know well or someone that we want to be respectful or polite to |
vosotros | you (all) | used to refer to a group of male people |
vosotras | you (all) | used to refer to a group of female people |
ustedes (Uds or Vds) | you | used to refer to a group of male, female or mixed group of people that we want to be respectful or polite to |
Subject personal pronouns that refer to different genders
Spanish | English | When the Spanish pronoun is used |
nosotros | we | used to refer to a group of male people |
nosotras | we | used to refer to a group of female people |
vosotros | you (all) | used to refer to a group of male people |
vosotras | you (all) | used to refer to a group of female people |
ellos | they | used to refer to a group of male people |
ellas | they | used to refer to a group of female people |
PART 3
The third part of the lesson looks at common characteristics that exist in the makeup of all Spanish verbs. The main point to remember here and one which will very quickly become second nature is the fact that at a basic level there are only three types of verbs in the Spanish language. Those that end in either AR, ER, or IR. A sample list is given here:
hablar | to speak/talk | comer | to eat | vivir | to live |
nadar | to swim | romper | to break | venir | to come |
prestar | to borrow | tener | to have | sentir | to feel |
There are no exceptions to this rule, which is a rare thing! Now of course, despite this regularity there are many ways in which verbs can be constructed, but as you will see in future lessons the way certain verbs are used and constructed ultimately depends on whether they end in AR, ER, or IR.
Spanish verbs are either regular or irregular. If they are regular then it means that the verb takes a common formation pattern which can be applied to all regular verbs.
All verbs are made up of a stem and an ending. Look at these examples of infinitive verbs. (A verb in its original form with no alteration to the stem or ending.)
stem | ending | ||
caminar | to walk | camin | ar |
comer | to eat | com | er |
vivir | to live | viv | ir |
The stems of all regular verbs do not change. Only the endings change and they all change in the same way. This makes regular verb formations much easier to learn.
Irregular verbs are formed by changing both the ending of the verb and sometimes the stem. This is why they are usually more difficult to learn. Some verbs are considered more irregular than others. Some verbs are so irregular that their formation is unique to that verb only.
PART 4
So, now that we have looked at subject personal pronouns and the basic makeup of verbs, how do these two things fit together? This is what is covered in the fourth part of the lesson!
In order to illustrate how subject personal pronouns are used with verbs we will look at the verb, caminar (to walk), in the present tense as follows:
yo | camino | I walk (yo is not usually necessary) |
tú | caminas | you walk (tú is not usually necessary) |
usted | camina | you walk – polite (usted is usually optional) |
él | camina | he walks (él may be necessary) |
ella | camina | she walks (ella may be necessary) |
nosotros | caminamos | we walk – masculine (nosotros may be necessary) |
nosotras | caminamos | we walk – feminine (nosotras may be necessary) |
vosotros | camináis | you (all) walk- masculine (vosotros may be necessary) |
vosotras | camináis | you (all) walk – feminine (vosotras may be necessary) |
ellos | caminan | they walk – masculine (ellos may be necessary) |
ellas | caminan | they walk - feminine (ellas may be necessary) |
ustedes | caminan | you (all) walk – polite (ustedes is usually optional) |
You can see that the verb itself changes depending on which subject personal pronoun is used. Only the ending of the verb changes because the verb caminar (to walk), is a regular AR verb.
Is the subject personal pronoun necessary?
So, why is it that sometimes the subject personal pronoun is necessary and sometimes not. In the first example, ‘hablo’ which means, ‘I speak’ there is no other possible meaning for this unique word. It has to mean, ‘I speak’ by the way the verb is constructed. However, ‘habla’ can mean three different things; you speak – polite, he speaks and she speaks. Therefore we might have to use the subject personal pronoun with the verb to identify who or what it is the verb is describing.
Comer (to eat)
(yo) como | yo is not necessary - the verb formation como is unique |
(tú) comes | tú is not necessary - the verb formation comes is unique |
Marco come | él is not necessary because Marco replaces the pronoun él (it is clear that Marco is male) |
Él come rápido | él is necessary because without it we wouldn't know who eats quickly - with it, we know it is he who eats quickly |
Being polite
On occasions we might be speaking or referring to older people, those we don’t know very well or those that we might want to be respectful to. On these occasions the polite form of subject personal pronouns should be used. So, for example:
¿Cómo está usted?=How are you? (Polite.)
¿Cómo están ustedes?=How are you (all)? (Polite.)
Masculine or feminine?
Similarly we will on occasions want to refer to things or people that have a specific gender. If this is the case then the correct gender form of the subject personal pronoun should be used with the verb. Often we use verbs in a general context where gender is not necessarily defined, important or where both genders at once are being referred to. In these cases the subject personal pronoun is often dropped altogether or if it is used then it is always the masculine form that is taken.
nosotros / nosotras comemos | Although the verb formation is unique to the pronoun we, we might want to distinguish between groups of male or female people. If we do then the relevant subject personal pronoun should be used. |
vosotros / vosotras coméis | Although the verb formation is unique to the pronoun you all, we might want to distinguish between groups of male or female people. If we do then the relevant subject personal pronoun should be used. |
ellos / ellas comen | Although the verb formation is unique to the pronoun they, we might want to distinguish between groups of male or female people. If we do then the relevant subject personal pronoun should be used. |
Using personal pronouns even if we don’t
need to
On occasions we might want to use a personal pronoun in a sentence where in reality it is not actually necessary to do so. We often do this just to give emphasis or to make it absolutely clear about what is being said.
Yo te dije no. | I told you no. | for emphasis |
Ellos están aquí excepto Maria. | They're here except for Maria. | for clarity |
Soy yo. | It's me. |
¿Eres tú? | Is it you? |
Es para él. | It’s for him. |
¿Quien dijo eso? Yo. | Who said that? I did. |
Él es más grande que ella. | He's taller than her. |
Él es tan grande como ella. | He's as tall as her. |
It is important to note that it will never be considered wrong to use subject personal pronouns with verbs even where it is not absolutely necessary to use them. When first learning the Spanish language it is good practice to always use them.
In the following lessons you will see how
verbs are formed when using different tenses. This will ultimately depend on
four things:
1- Whether the verb ends in AR, ER, or IR.
2- Whether the verb is regular or irregular.
3- What tense is being used with the verb.
4- Which subject personal pronoun is being used with the verb.
That concludes this lesson on verbs and
subject personal pronouns. If you have not done so already watch the actual video for
this lesson and then try one of the associated quizzes to test your
understanding.