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Spanish Lesson 6

LESSON 6
by George Wu
Online Spanish for Expats
PRONOUNS
Spanish pronouns are more complicated than English counterparts. Don’t ask me why. The seem to “mention” others more than we do, especially, when it comes to using “se” for reasons of their own.
Subject Pronouns
yo    I
tú     you(informal)
usted you(formal)
él     he
ella  she
nosotros we
ustedes  you(plural)
¿Hablas tú español?
¿ Habla usted español?
Formal you is used for addressing elderly folks or people of higher standing. Common you is reserved for people of your own age and friends in general. Single you for English, but two different you in Spanish. At least in Latin America, they use ustedes for they plural. In Spain it’s vsostros with its own conjugation.
Direct Object Pronoun
me te(informal0 usted(formal) him=le her=le les for all plurals except for us=nos
Él me vendió el libro por cinco dólares.
He sold me the book for five bucks.
Indirect Object Pronoun
a mí a ti a usted a él a ella(le is used)
a nosotros a ustedes a ellos
Carlos le habla a usted.
Charles spoke to you. You is the indirect object.
Reflexive Pronoun
Certain Spanish verbs are reflexive to begin with.
Me arrepiento
I repent
Se atreve
he or she dares
Se quejan
They complain
Those are self by nature. In other words, they dare themselves. Ellos se atreven.
What about Los muchachos se hablan. It could be The boys speak to themselves OR  The boys speak to each other. Well, to indicate the second version, you’d better say Los muchachos hablan uno al otro(one to another or to each other).
Pronoun se
Se is usually a third pronoun for himself or themselves. The above sample shows se. However, you see the sign that says Se habla ingles in windows all the time. That se is different. It means Engilsh is spoken here.
El libro es tuyo.
The book is mine.
Possessive Pronoun
mio=mine tuyo=yours de usted=yours suyo=his or hers de nosotros=ours de ustedes=yours(plural)
de ellos or ellas=theirs
Indefinite Pronoun
Same as ours except nadie or nobody uses plural verbs. alguien=somebody  also=something
todo=everything  todos=everybody(using plural verb in Spanish)
Demonstrative Pronouns
esto esta estos estas eso esa esos esas       aquellos aquellas
this that these that those     far away those(male) and far away those(female)    Spanish gender!
Adverb questions? [email protected]