Personal Pronouns in Spanish Grammar

Subject Pronouns in Spanish

Subject pronouns (los pronombres personales de sujeto) represent the person or thing that performs the verb.

Remember, Spanish usually omits subject pronouns because this information is shown in the verb ending.

Example:

(Yo) Tengo una novia.I’ve got a girlfriend.

There are only a few cases where use subject pronouns in Spanish:

• for emphasis

Example:

Ella es muy simpática.She’s really nice.

• as an answer to the question ¿quién?

Example:

¿Quién canta canciones? – Yo.Who’s singing songs? – Me.

• in comparative sentences with que

Example:

Mi novia es más alta que yo.My girlfriend is taller than me.

• in phrases with mismo, también and tampoco

Example:

Él también ha llegado tarde.He was late as well.

Overview of Spanish Subject Pronouns

Object Pronouns in Spanish

Object pronouns replace the object of the sentence; this is the thing or person that is acted upon by the verb.

Objects and object pronouns can be direct or indirect. We’ll cover this distinction in more detail further on, so for now, here’s a quick example to give you the general idea:

Example:

El profesor explicó la lección. → El profesor la explicó.The teacher explained the lesson. → The teacher explained it.

the lesson is being explained = direct object

El profesor explicó la lección a los alumnos.→ El profesor les explicó la lección.The teacher explained the lesson to the students. → The teacher explained the lesson to them.

the lesson = direct object; the students = indirect object

The good news is that direct and indirect pronouns are identical to each other, except for in the third person.

*When the direct object is a male human in the singular, you will often hear the pronoun le, although lo is also correct.

**When a sentence includes both a direct and an indirect object pronoun, the latter becomes se to avoid alliteration. See below for more details.

Where to Place Spanish Object Pronouns in a Sentence

Spanish object pronouns come before the verb.

Examples:

Susana me conoce desde hace años.Susana has known me for years. (direct object pronoun)

Me encanta cantar canciones.I love singing songs. (indirect object pronoun)

Object Pronouns with Verbal Periphrasis

With verbal periphrasis (verb + infinitive/gerund), object pronouns can come before the verb as normal, or we can attach them to the end of the infinitive or gerund.

Examples:

Quiero cantar otra canción.I want to sing another song.

→ La quiero cantar. or: Quiero cantarla.I want to sing it.

Object Pronouns with the Imperative

We attach object pronouns to the end of an imperative.

Example:

¡Canta las canciones otra vez!Sing the songs again!

→ ¡Cántalas otra vez!→ Sing them again!

But if the imperative is negated, the object pronoun comes before the verb as normal.

Example:

No cantes las canciones más.Don’t sing the songs anymore.

→ No las cantes más.→ Don’t sing them anymore.

Order of Spanish Object Pronouns

If there are two object pronouns in the same sentence, the indirect object pronoun comes first.

Example:

El profesor nos explicó la lección.The teacher explained the lesson to us.

→ El profesor nos la explicó.The teacher explained it to us.

not: El profesor la nos explicó

If both pronouns are in the third person, the indirect pronoun le/les becomes se to avoid alliteration.

Example:

El profesor explicó la lección a los alumnos.The teacher explained the lesson to the students.

→ El profesor se la explicó.The teacher explained it to them.

not: El profesor les la explicó.

The rule indirect before direct also applies when attaching pronouns to the end of a verb in the infinitive, imperative or gerund. Sometimes we need to add an accent to preserve pronunciation.

Example:

Quiero comprar un regalo a Maria.

→ Quiero comprárselo.I want to buy a present for Maria. → I want to buy her it.

Not sure about the difference between direct and indirect objects? Keep reading for more info!

Direct Object vs. Indirect Object in Spanish

In sentences with two objects, recognising which is direct and which is indirect is relatively simple.

The general rule is as follows:

• the direct object is a thing without a preposition
• the indirect object is usually a person introduced by the preposition a

In fact, the logic is similar to English:

English:

The teacher explained the lesson to the students.

Spanish:

El profesor explicó la lección a los alumnos.

direct object: the lesson/la lección; indirect object: the students/los alumnos

This is what the sentence looks like when we replace the nouns with the corresponding object pronouns:

The teacher explained it to the students.

→ El profesor la explicó a los alumnos. (direct object pronoun)

The teacher explained the lesson to them.

→ El profesor les explicó la lección. (indirect object pronoun)

The teacher explained it to them.

→ El profesor se la explicó. (indirect followed by direct)

remember: change le/les to se when it comes before lo/la/los/las

Exceptions

As always, there are some exceptions to this rule.

In some cases, the indirect object is a thing not a person (it’s still introduced by a though).

Example:

Le pongo nata a mi helado.I put cream on my ice cream.

direct object: nata; indirect object: mi helado

Direct Object with a

Sometimes, the direct object is a person introduced by a, meaning that it is indistinguishable from an indirect object.

Example:

La guitarra pertenece a Rubén. → Le pertenece la guitarra.The guitar belongs to Rubén. → The guitar belongs to him. (indirect object)

but:

Conozco a Rubén. → Lo conozco.I know Rubén. → I know him. (direct object)

So how can we tell the difference?

Try substituting the the person with a thing. If you still need to use a, then you’ve got an indirect object. If a is no longer necessary before the thing, it’s a direct object.

Example:

Conozo a Rubén. → Conozco sus canciones. / Las conozco.I know Rubén. → I know his songs. / I know them.

no preposition necessary = conocer + direct object

but:

La guitarra pertenece a Rubén. → La guitarra pertenece al colegio. / La guitarra le pertenece.The guitar belongs to Rubén. → The guitar belongs to the school. / The guitar belongs to it.

preposition a remains = pertenecer + indirect object

You can also take note of common verbs and whether they take a direct or indirect object after a.

List of Useful Verbs

Common Spanish verbs that take an indirect object:

contar (algo a alguien)tell (something to someone), dar (algo a alguien)give (something to someone), decir (algo a alguien)say (something to someone), pedir (algo a alguien)ask for (something from someone), regalar (algo a alguien)gift (someone with something), servir (algo a alguien)serve (something to someone), traer (algo a alguien)bring (something to someone)

You’ll notice here that the indirect object is often translated as to someone in English.

Common Spanish verbs that take a person as their direct object:

echar de menosto miss (someone), esperarto wait (for someone), invitarto invite (someone), llamarto call (someone), quererto love (someone), etc.

Prepositional Pronouns in Spanish

Prepositional pronouns (los pronombres preposicionales) are a type of object pronoun that come after prepositions (a, con, hacia, para, por, sobra, sin…).

Example:

Este regalo es para ti.This present is for you.

We also use prepositional pronouns with a before an indirect object. You may recognise this from phrases like a mí me gusta …

Example:

A mí me conoces muy bien.You know me really well.

Overview of Spanish Prepositional Pronouns

Exceptions

• The preposition con is combined with mí and ti to create conmigo and contigo.

Example:

Me encanta escuchar música contigo.I love listening to music with you.

not: Me encanta escuchar música con ti.

• We don’t use prepositional pronouns after entre and según. Instead, we use the subject pronouns yo and tú.

Example:

Entre tú y yo, no tengo ganas de ir a la fiesta.Between you and I, I don’t really feel like going to the party.

not: Entre ti y mí …