TEMA 5

LOS PRONOMBRES

PRONOMBRES PERSONALES
http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/personal_pronouns

PRONOMBRES DEMOSTRATIVOS ( NO ADJETIVOS DEMOSTRATIVOS!!)

http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/80

PRONOMBRES POSESIVOS
http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/spanish_possessive_pronouns

PRONOMBRES INDEFINIDOS
http://spanish.about.com/od/pronouns/a/indefinite_pronouns.htm

PRONOMBRES NUMERALES
Ver en el libro de texto.

Tema 5

LOS PRONOMBRES

PERSONAL PRONOUMS
We use personal pronouns to talk about people without naming them. They
substitute the noun and are usually used for emphasis or to avoid confusion.
The personal pronouns are presented below.
yo
t
l
ella
usted (Ud.)
nosotros (as)
vosotros (as)*
ellos
ellas
ustedes (Uds.)

I
you
he, him or it
she, her, or it
you (formal)
we, us
you all
they
they (females)
you all (formal)

*vosotros (as) are mainly used in Spain.

Yo quiero un telfono celular.

I want a cell phone.
T tienes que aprender las palabras.
You have to learn the words.
Est l o ella aqu hoy?
Is he or she here today?
Usted va a trabajar con Marta.
You're going to work with Marta.
Nosotros diremos la verdad.
We will tell the truth.
En qu ciudad viven ellos?
What city do they live in?

GRAMMAR
We use personal1pronouns2 to talk about people. They are usually used to make
emphasis on the person or to avoid confusion. They can be used as subject
pronouns and object pronouns.

Used as Subject Pronouns

Personal pronouns are considered subject pronouns when they tell us who does
the action in the sentence.
Yo quiero bailar.
I want to dance.
Nosotros necesitamos ms tiempo.
We need more time.
Usted no tiene por qu estar enojado.
You dont have any reason to be angry.
Subject pronouns are not always needed because the verb tells the story in
Spanish. This means that the verb ending tells us who we are talking about.6
Yo quiero comer.
I want to eat. (emphasis on I)
Quiero comer.7
I want to eat.
Nosotros necesitamos dinero.
We need money. (emphasis on we)
Necesitamos dinero.8
We need money.
l no come las verduras.
He doesnt eat vegetables.
No come las verduras.
He doesnt eat vegetables.

(emphasis on he)

See the following example in a phrase:

Hay una chica que se llama Julia; ella tiene muchos zapatos, pero est triste
porque quiere tener ms zapatos.
There is a girl named Julia; she has a lot of shoes, but [she] is sad because she
wants to have more shoes.9

Used as Object Pronouns

We use personal pronouns as object pronouns when they receive the action from
the noun, they can go after the verb adding a preposition.10
Vamos a hablar con l.
Were going to talk with him.
Mis abuelos no trajeron nada para m.11
My grandparents didnt bring anything for me.
Entre t y yo, ese seor est loco.
Between you and me, that guy is crazy.

Julia piensa que todo tiene que ver con ella.

Julia thinks that everything has to do with her.

Notas:
1. they have to do with people: personal
2. they replace nouns: pronouns
3. instead of t, some countries in Central America and South America usevos, but
they understand t
4. vosotros/vosotras is mainly used in Spain
5. to see the differences between t and usted see the chart below.
6. some forms like the forms for l, ella and usted or ellos, ellas andustedes have
the same ending.
7. we know that its I want because the o at the end of quiero means I
8. the amos in necesitamos means we
9. When we know who were talking about, we dont need to say their name or he
or she before the verb. Its understood without it.
10. Some common prepositions are: a, con, de, para, & por
11. after most prepositions, yo and t become m and ti. With con (with) they
become conmigo (with me) and contigo (with you).

DEMOSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
Demonstrative comes from "to demonstrate," so it makes sense that demonstrative pronouns
would demonstrate the location of the noun they replace. If you have several options in front of
you, lets say cakes, and someone asks you which one you want, you can respond with "this one"
(the one close to you), or "that one" (the one far from you). "This one" and "That one" are both
demonstrative pronouns. While they look very similar to demonstrative adjectives (only the tildes

make them different), demonstrative pronouns replace a noun in a phrase instead of modifying it
like an adjective would.

Demonstrative Pronoun Forms

Spanish has three categories of demonstrative pronouns to replace a noun, each with a
masculine and feminine, singular and plural forms, each demonstrating the location of an object
and how far from the speaker it is.

1. To replace a noun or nouns close to the speaker (this one)

Singular
ste (this one here)
sta (this one here)

Masculine
Feminine

Plural
stos (these here)
stas (these here)

Examples:

Mi coche es ms rpido que ste. (My car is faster than this one.)
Yo quiero sta aqu. (I want this one here.)
Sintense en stas aqu. (Sit in these here.)

2. To replace a noun or nouns that are not very close to the speaker (that one)

Singular
se (that one there)
sa (that one there)

Masculine
Feminine

Plural
sos (those there)
sas (those there)

Examples:

Te gusta sa? (Do you like that one?)

Tienes uno, se es para l. (You have one, that one is for him.)
sas son las ms bonitas. (Those are the most beautiful.)

3. To replace a noun or nouns far from the speaker and listener (that over there)

Masculine
Feminine

Singular
aqul (that over there)
aqulla (that over there)

Plural
aqullos (those over there)
aqullas (those over there)

Examples:

Aqul all es peligroso. (That one over there is dangerous.)

Aqullos son los jefes. (Those over there are the bosses.)
Aqul es el Gran Can. (That over there is the Grand Canyon.)

Tildes Matter!
Note that demonstrative pronouns carry a tilde (written accent) so as to differentiate from
demonstrative adjectives which do NOT carry a tilde. However, the Real Academia Espaola,
the institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language, has ruled that the tildes are only
required if the situation is ambiguous. However, they are still used more often than not, so we
recommend you use them unless told not to.

POSSESIVE PRONOUNS
Posessive Pronouns indicate possession or belonging making a reference to the owner
and the object possessed. We cannot mistake them with possessive adjectives since
these always go next to a noun; the pronouns replace it. The Spanish possessive
pronouns are listed in the table below.
Singular
el mo
la ma
el tuyo
la tuya
el suyo
la suya
el nuestro
la nuestra
el vuestro
la vuestra

Plural
los mos
las mas
los tuyos
las tuyas
los suyos
las suyas
los nuestros
las nuestras
los vuestros
las vuestras

A possessive adjective always accompanies a noun:

su pelota - his ball
nuestro coche - our car
A possessive pronoun replaces a noun:
Tus discos son ms recientes que los mos.
- Your records are newer than mine.
Los nuestros son muy buenos.
- Ours are very good.
Podemos hacerlo con el tuyo.
- We can do it with yours.
Las sbanas pequeas son suyas.
- The small sheets are his/hers.

GRAMMAR
Possessive Pronouns - Singular

Yo
T

(mine)
(yours)

masculine
el mo
el tuyo

feminine
la ma
la tuya

l, Ella
Nosotros,
Nosotras
Ellos, Ellas

(his, hers)

el suyo

la suya

(ours)

el nuestro

la nuestra

(theirs)

el suyo

la suya

(mine)
(yours)
(his, hers)

masculine
los mos
los tuyos
los suyos

feminine
las mas
las tuyas
las suyas

(ours)

los nuestros

las nuestras

(theirs)

los suyos

las suyas

Possessive Pronouns - Plural

Yo
T
l, Ella
Nosotros,
Nosotras
Ellos, Ellas

We use the Possessive Pronouns when we want to substitute a group of words that
are indicating a possession relation.
ste es mi libro. - This is my book.
In this example, we can substitute "mi libro" (my book) for the possessive pronoun
"mo" (mine) and we would have:
ste es mo. - This is mine.
or
Este libro es mo. - This book is mine.
In Spanish the possessive pronouns are normally formed with the definite article and
"mo", "tuyo", or "suyo".
Mi coche es rpido. - My car is fast.
El mo es ms rpido. - Mine is faster.
In this example, "el mo" (mine) substitutes "mi coche" (my car) and it is formed by
the definite article masculine, singular "el" (the) and the pronoun "mo" (mine)*
Note: Nouns in Spanish have gender so, when you want to substitute them for a
pronoun you have to bear that in mind and choose accordingly.

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
Indefinite pronouns are those pronouns that typically refer to no particular person
or thing. The list below indicates which pronouns these are in both English and
Spanish.

In Spanish as in English, most of the words used as indefinite pronouns

sometimes function as other parts of speech, often as adjectives and sometimes
as adverbs. In Spanish, some of the indefinite pronouns exist in both masculine
and feminine forms as well as singular and plural forms, so they must agree with
the nouns they refer to.
Here are the indefinite pronouns of Spanish with examples of their use:
alguien someone, somebody, anyone, anybody
Necesito a alguien que pueda escribir. (I need someone who can write.) Me
llam alguien? (Did anybody call me?)
algo something
Veo algo grande y blanco. (I see something big and
white.)Aprendiste algo esta tarde? (Did you learn something this afternoon?)
alguno, alguna, algunos, algunas one, some (things or people)
Puedes suscribirte a alguno de nuestros servicios. (You can subscribe
to one of our services.) Quieresalguno ms? (Do you want one more?) Voy a
estudiar con algunas de las madres. (I'm going to study with some of the
mothers.) Algunos quieren salir. (Some want to leave.)
cualquiera anybody, anyone
Cualquiera puede tocar la guitarra. (Anyone can play the guitar.) The
plural form, cualesquiera, is seldom used.
mucho, mucha, muchos, muchas much, many
Me queda mucho por hacer. (I have much left to do.) La escuela
tiene
mucho
que
ofrecer.
(The
school
has
much
to
offer.) Somos muchos. (There are many of us. Literally, we are many.)
nada nothing
Nada me parece cierto. (Nothing seems certain to me.) No tengonada. (I
have nothing.) Note that when nada follows a verb, the part of the sentence
preceding the verb typically is also put in negative form, making a double
negative.
nadie nobody, no one

 Nadie me cree. (Nobody believes me.) No conozco a nadie.(I know nobody.)

Note that when nadie follows a verb, the part of the sentence preceding the
verb typically is also put in negative form, making a double negative.
ninguno, ninguna none, nobody, no one
Ninguna de ellas va al parque. (None of them are going to the park.) No
conozco a ninguno. (I know nobody. Note that whenninguno follows a verb,
the part of the sentence preceding the verb typically is also put in negative form.
Plural forms (ningunos and ningunas) exist but are seldom used.
otro, otra, otros, otras another, other one, another one, other ones, others
Quiero otro. (I want another one.) Los otros van al parque. (The others are
going to the park.) Un otro and una otra are not used for "another
one." Otros and the related pronouns can be combined with a definite
article (el, la, los or las) as in the second example.
poco, poca, pocos, pocas little, little bit, few, a few
Tengo un poco de miedo. (I have a little bit of fear.) Pocos van al parque. (A
few are going to the park.)
todo, todos, todas everything, all, everyone
l comi todo. (He ate everything.)Todos van al parque. (All are going to
the park.) In singular form, todo exists only in the neuter (todo).
uno, una, unos, unas one, some
Uno no puede creer sin hacer. (One cannot believe without
doing.) Unos quieren ganar ms. (Some want to earn more.) Com uno y
desech el otro. (I ate one and threw away the other.) Uno and its variations
are often used in conjunction with forms of otro, as in the third example.
Although some different pronouns are translated the same into English, they
aren't necessarily interchangeable. In many cases, the pronouns can be
translated in more than one way into English; you must rely on context in those
cases to convey the meaning.