A1
Subject pronouns, and leaving them out
The Spanish subject pronouns, why they are usually omitted, and the difference between tú and usted.
| yo | I |
| tú | you, familiar |
| él / ella | he / she |
| usted | you, formal |
| nosotros / nosotras | we |
| vosotros / vosotras | you, plural familiar (Spain) |
| ellos / ellas | they |
| ustedes | you, plural |
They are usually left out
Each verb ending is different, so the pronoun adds nothing. Spanish drops it unless there is a reason not to.
Hablo español.
I-speak Spanish
I speak Spanish.
Yo hablo español is not wrong, but yo is doing no work — hablo can only be I. Used on every sentence it sounds insistent, as though you were correcting someone about who. The pronoun comes back for contrast: yo hablo español, pero él no.
tú and usted
Tú for friends, family, children and peers. Usted for a stranger, someone older, or anyone in a position of authority. The line is drawn more loosely than French vous, and in much of Latin America usted is the safer default while in Spain tú is used more readily.
¿Cómo está usted?
how is you (formal)
How are you?
Note the verb: usted takes the él/ella ending, not a form of its own.
Usted eres muy amable.
Usted es muy amable.
Usted is grammatically third person however much it means you. It comes from vuestra merced — your grace — and still behaves like a title someone else holds. The same applies to ustedes, which takes the ellos form.
vosotros is Spain only
Latin America uses ustedes for every plural you, formal or not. A learner who never uses vosotros will be understood everywhere; one who never learns to recognise it will struggle with anything written in Spain.
Spanish has no it
There is no subject pronoun for a thing. The verb stands alone.
Es difícil.
is difficult
It’s difficult.
Ello es difícil.
Es difícil.
Spanish supplies no subject for an impersonal statement. Es difícil, llueve, hace frío — the verb carries the sentence by itself.