Spanish Grammar: Pronouns
Pronouns Defined
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun.
Ella (subject pronoun) está aquí.
She is here.
Tomás me (direct object pronoun) vio ayer.
Thomas saw me yesterday.
USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS
The personal pronouns have the following uses in Spanish: (a) as subject of the verb; (b) as indirect object of the verb; (c) as direct object of the verb; (d) as a reflexive pronoun (either direct or indirect object); (e) as object of a preposition.
CONJUNCTIVE AND DISJUNCTIVE FORMS
When used as the subject or the object of a verb (that is, as any one of the first four uses listed above), a personal pronoun is said to be in the conjunctive form (used in conjunction with the verb). When used as the object of a preposition (the fifth use listed above), a personal pronoun is said to be in the disjunctive or prepositional form (not used in conjunction with the verb).
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OMISSION OF SUBJECT PERSONAL PRONOUNS
The subject personal pronouns frequently are omitted, particularly in spoken Spanish. The form of the verb is sufficient to identify the subject (except when the verb is in the third person), even though the subject pronoun may be omitted. The student is advised to use the subject pronoun when the verb is in the third person singular or plural. Otherwise, context alone must be relied upon (which frequently is confusing for students who have not had a great deal of practice in oral and written Spanish), and often it may prove difficult to determine whether usted, él, or ella, in the singular, or ustedes, ellos, or ellas, in the plural, is the subject. Any subject pronoun may be expressed for additional emphasis or clearness, whenever the user so desires.
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THE PRONOUN YOU
There are two forms of the subject pronoun you in Spanish for either singular or plural: tú (second person singular) and usted (third person singular), whose plural forms are respectively vosotros (m.) or vosotras (/.) and ustedes. Tú and vosotros (vosotras) are the familiar forms of address, employed chiefly in speaking to members of the speaker's own family, to small children, to servants regarded almost as members of the family, to very intimate friends, and to animals. The average person for whom Spanish is a foreign language will have few occasions for using the familiar forms, and he is advised to limit himself, generally speaking, to the third person formal usted and ustedes.
Note: Usted is derived from the Old Spanish vuestra merced (your honor, your worship, etc.), which accounts for its being considered third person and also explains the abbreviations Vd. or V. for usted and Vds. or VV. (from the plural vuestras mercedes) for ustedes. A more logical system of abbreviation, and one which seems to be increasingly popular today, consists of Ud. for usted and Uds. for ustedes.
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MASCULINE DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS, THIRD PERSON SINGULAR
In the third person singular, there are two forms of the masculine direct object pronouns: le [him, you) and lo (him, you, it). Since le is also the indirect object pronoun form meaning to him, to her, or to you, a brief explanation may aid in preventing confusion. Usage in Spain has favored the employment of le for the masculine direct object when it represents a male person, and lo when the object represents a thing of the masculine gender. In Spanish America, however, the tendency frequently has been to use lo for the masculine direct object, whether a person or a thing, and le only as the indirect object.
Spain:
Usted está allí, y le veo.
You are there, and I see you.
Ella tiene el libro, y lo necesito.
She has the book, and I need it.
Spanish America:
Usted está allí, y lo (le) veo.
You are there, and I see you.
Ella tiene el libro, y lo necesito.
She has the book, and I need it.
Note: This Spanish American usage, which seems to be gaining in popularity even among writers in Spain itself, has the advantage of preventing any confusion between the direct and the indirect object; but this advantage is neutralized by the failure to differentiate between it (tn.) and him or you (m.).
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POSITION OF CONJUNCTIVE OBJECT PRONOUNS
A. A conjunctive object pronoun normally is placed immediately before the verb of which it is the object, or immediately before the auxiliary verb if a compound tense is used.
Ella me vio.
She saw me.
Ella me ha visto.
She has seen me.
B. The indirect object pronoun regularly is placed before the direct object. But the reflexive form se (used either as direct or indirect object) must be placed before any other object pronoun whatsoever.
Un amigo me lo dio.
A friend (m.) gave it (m.) to me.
Se me olvidó la lección.
I forgot the lesson. (Literally: The lesson forgot itself to me.)
C. When both the indirect and the direct object pronouns are in the third person, the indirect object (le or les) becomes se (not to be considered as reflexive when so substituted).
Se lo diré. (Instead of Le lo or Les lo diré.)
I shall tell it (m.) to him (to her, to you, or to them).
Se las prometí. (Instead of Le las or Les las prometí.)
I promised them (f.) to him (to her, to you, or to them).
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VARIATION IN POSITION OF CONJUNCTIVE OBJECT PRONOUNS
Although the conjunctive object pronouns regularly come before the verbs of which they are the objects, under certain conditions the usual rule is not followed.
A. Conjunctive object pronouns regularly follow and are joined to (1) infinitives, (2) present participles, (3) true imperatives (which are always in the affirmative), and (4) present subjunctives when used as affirmative imperatives (but never when used as negative imperatives).
Es necesario (preciso) írmelo.
It is necessary to tell it to me.
Despedí al jardinero, dandole su dinero.
I fired (dismissed) the gardener, giving him his money.
Dimelo.
Tell it to me.
Escríbanos, amigo mío.
Write to us, my friend.
B. In the compound tenses, the conjunctive object pronouns may follow and be attached to haber only when it is in the infinitive or the present participle. When not in one of these two forms, neither an object pronoun nor any other word may be placed between haber and the past participle, and the object pronoun must precede both.
Después de haberme visto, él se fue.
After having seen me, he went away.
Habiéndonos visitado muchas veces, ya conocía Juan nuestro modo de vivir.
Having visited us many times, John already was acquainted with our manner of living.
La he visto esta mañana.
I have seen her (or it) this morning.
Note: In the progressive tenses (formed by estar plus the present participle), the object pronoun normally may be placed either before estar or attached to the present participle.
Ellos nos estaban mirando.
They were looking at us.
Ellos estaban mirándonos.
They were looking at us.
C. In novels, essays, and other literary works, quite frequently the conjunctive object pronouns are attached to such verb forms as the present indicative, the preterite, or the imperfect indicative. Such a practice, however, should not be followed by the student in his own written work.
Rióse ella de la idea.
She laughed at the idea.
Golpeábanme los bandidos todos los días.
The bandits beat me every day.
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USES OF DISJUNCTIVE (PREPOSITIONAL) PRONOUNS
A. The disjunctive pronoun is used as the simple object of any preposition.
Las flores son para usted.
The flowers are for you.
Ellos estaban hablando de mi.
They were speaking of me.
B. The disjunctive pronoun is used after a verb indicating motion, such as ir (to go), correr (to run), venir (to come), etc., followed by a (to).
Los animales van (corren) a él sin miedo.
Animals go (run) to him without fear.
El perro vino a mí.
The dog came to me.
C. The disjunctive pronoun is used with the preposition a (to) to express the indirect object, when there are two object pronouns and the direct object is one of the first or second person forms (that is, me, te, nos, or os).
El señor Pérez me dirigió a usted.
Mr. Pérez directed me to you.
Ellos nos alabaron a él.
They praised us to him.
D. The disjunctive pronoun is used with conjunctive object pronouns (1) when there might be a doubt as to the person indicated (as frequently happens with le, lo, la, and the remaining third person forms), or (2) for the sake of added emphasis.
Le (Lo) veo a él.
I see him.
Se lo daremos a usted.
We shall give it (m.) to you.
No me gusta a mí.
I don't like it. (It is not to pleasing to me.)
Or:
A mí no me gusta.
I don't like it. (It is not to pleasing to me.)