Subject Pronouns

Telling a story can get tiring pretty quickly if you have to keep saying every person's name over and over. This is where personal pronouns like subject pronouns come in handy. Subject pronouns often replace a subject noun and can be classified several different ways: by person (first, second, or third person), number (singular or plural), gender (male or female), and formality (formal or informal). Luckily, we've provided a snazzy chart so you have all the Spanish subject pronouns in one place.

While subject pronouns can be used to replace a person's name, many native speakers of Spanish rarely use them at all. This is because Spanish verb endings tell you who the subject is.

Spanish Subject Pronouns

Spanish	English	Person	Number	Gender	Formality
yo	I	First person	singular	---	---
nosotros	we	First person	plural	masculine	---
nosotras	we	First person	plural	feminine	---
tú	you	Second person	singular	---	informal
vos	you	Second person	singular	---	informal
usted	you	Second person	singular	---	formal
ustedes	you	Second person	plural	---	formal (Spain), both formal and informal (Latin America)
vosotros	you	Second person	plural	masculine	informal (Spain)
vosotras	you	Second person	plural	feminine	informal (Spain)
él	he	Third person	singular	masculine	---
ella	she	Third person	singular	feminine	---
ellos	they	Third person	plural	masculine	---
ellas	they	Third person	plural	feminine	---

A Closer Look

Let's learn some important tips about each of the above subject pronouns.

Yo

It isn't necessary to capitalize yo in Spanish unless it is the first word in a sentence.

examples
Mi mamá y yo fuimos a la tienda. My mom and I went to the store.
Yo fui a la tienda solo. I went to the store by myself.

Tú

When you are talking directly to a child, a relative, a friend, a peer, or a pet, you should use tú, the informal singular second person.

Tú is written with a tilde to distinguish it from the possessive adjective tu(your).

Vos

Vos is used instead of tú in some countries, such as Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
In some countries, such as Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, you may hear both tú and vos.
In some countries, such as Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, you will only ever hear tú.

Usted

Usted is used to directly address someone older, a person you do not know, a superior, or someone to whom you would like to show respect.

You can abbreviate usted as Ud. in writing.

Él, Ella

Él and ella are commonly used in place of a person's name.

Él is written with a tilde to differentiate it from the definite article el(the).

Nosotros, Nosotras

Use nosotros or nosotras when speaking about a group of which you are a part.
The difference between nosotros and nosotras is gender.
- Nosotros is used to refer to a group of men only or a group made up of men and women. Even if there are ninety-nine women and only one man in a group, you still use nosotros.
- Nosotras is feminine and is only used when the entire group is female.

Vosotros, Vosotras

Vosotros and vosotras are used to speak directly to a group of people you are very familiar with.
Vosotros and vosotras follow the same rules for gender as nosotros and nosotras.

Vosotros and vosotras are used in Spain, but you won't hear them in Latin America.

Ustedes

In Latin America, ustedes is used to speak directly to a group of people in both formal and informal situations.
In Spain, ustedes is used when talking to a group of people in a formal situation.