Subject Pronouns in English and Spanish: Usage and Differences, Study notes of Spanish

Download Subject Pronouns in English and Spanish: Usage and Differences and more Study notes Spanish in PDF only on Docsity! SUBJECT PRONOUNS A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. WHAT IS A PRONOUN?  It’s a word used instead of a noun (or a phrase containing a noun) Example: `He', `it', `who', and `anything' are pronouns.  When the pronoun is the subject (the person doing the action) of the sentence, it is called a Subject Pronoun. Example: Bob is swimming. He is swimming. THE FIRST PERSON SINGULAR PRONOUN “YO”  “Yo” means “I” and is used in the same way as in English.  Yo soy americano.  Yo soy estudiante.  Note that it is not capitalized unless it starts a sentence:  Mi amigo y yo… SECOND PERSON SINGULAR PRONOUN TÚ  Tú means you (familiar/ informal)  Used when talking to someone familiar  We’ll learn more about this in a moment. 3RD PERSON SINGULAR MASCULINE ÉL  Él = he  It is used when talking ABOUT a boy/guy/man.  used in the same way as its English counterpart:  Jorge es mexicano. Él es de Guadalajara.  DON’T forget the accent mark. If you do, you are actually writing the Spanish word for “the”  él = he el = the  Use nosotros/ nosotras to talk about a group of people that includes you.  in English we have one word to talk about “we,” but in Spanish, we distinguish between “we” masculine and feminine:  Juan: “Mi hermano y yo somos de Argentina. Nosotros vivimos en Buenos Aires.”  Juana: “Mi hermana y yo somos de Bolivia. Nosotras vivimos en La Paz.”  use the masculine pronoun if it refers to a mixed group:  Juan: “Mi hermano, mi novia, y yo somos de Argentina. Nosotros vivimos en Buenos Aires.”  Juana: “Mi hermana, mis padres, y yo somos de Bolivia. Nosotros vivimos en La Paz. THE FIRST PERSON PLURAL PRONOUN “NOSOTROS / NOSOTRAS” 3RD PERSON PLURAL MASCULINE ELLOS  Ellos = They (masculine)  It is used when talking ABOUT a group of boys/guys/men or a mixed group.  used in the same way as its English counterpart:  Jorge y Pepe son mexicanos. Ellos son de Guadalajara.  Jorge y Ana son alumnos. Ellos son amigos también.  Please pronounce it correctly.  It sounds like (eh-yohs) not (el-lohs)  Remember ll= y sound. 3RD PERSON PLURAL FEMININE ELLAS  Ellas = They (feminine)  It is used when talking ABOUT a group of only females.  used in the same way as its English counterpart:  Sofía y Ana son alumnas. Ellas son amigas también.  Please pronounce it correctly.  It sounds like (eh-yahs) not (el-lahs)  Remember ll= y sound.  Let’s look at the singular forms first. Each one has a specific time when it used. If you use the wrong one, it can be offensive to the person with whom you are speaking. DIFFERENCES – YOU: TÚ VS. USTED Tú = you (informal/familiar) Use “tú” when talking to people with whom you are on a first name basis. friends family small children people younger than you pets Usted (Ud.) = you (formal) Use “Usted” when talking with people to whom you should show respect. People in authority (police, teachers, bosses, etc.) Strangers Acquaintances Adults  In Spanish there are three ways to say “all of you”  Vosotros  Vosotras  Ustedes (Uds.)  Vosotros/vosotras are the plural forms of tú. Ustedes is the plural form of usted.  Vosotros is used when talking to a familiar group of males or a mixed group.  Vosotras is the feminine form of vosotros and is used when the entire group is female  These two familiar forms are used primarily in Spain.  We will not use vosotros/as in class, but you need to be aware of it. DIFFERENCES – Y’ALL  The plural you form “ustedes (Uds.)” Is used differently in Spain and Latin America.  In Spain, vosotros/as is used when talking to an informal group. Uds. is used to address a formal group.  In Latin America, Uds. is generally used in both formal and informal situations. (They don’t use vosotros/as)  Since we use Latin American Spanish in class, we will only use Uds. to indicate all forms of y’all. DIFFERENCES – Y’ALL