Spanish pronouns

Spanish pronouns are words used to replace nouns and thus avoid repetition.

Pronouns can replace the subject or object of a sentence, indicate ownership, introduce a relative clause, point out something, and refer to an unspecified quantity, among other uses:

Compré pescado. Lo comeremos esta noche.
I’ve bought fish. We’ll eat eat tight.

Este abrigo es mío.
This coat is mine.

Dámelo a mí.
Give it to me.

El teléfono celular que compré es muy caro.
The cell phone I bought is very expensive.

No me gusta este, prefiero aquel.
I don’t like this one, I prefer that one.

Quick tip: Spanish pronouns usually agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun they replace.

• See also: Spanish nouns

Types of pronouns in Spanish

Spanish pronouns can be classified into: subject pronouns, direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, prepositional pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, relative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns.

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns replace nouns that refer to people or things as the subject of a sentence.

Spanish subject pronouns	English subject pronouns
yo	I
tú vos usted	you   you (formal)
él ella	he she it*
nosotros nosotras	we
ustedes vosotros vosotras	you (plural)
ellos ellas	they

*No exact equivalent exists in Spanish for the English neutral pronoun “it”. The masculine and feminine forms él (he) and ella (she) are used for living beings as well as for inanimate objects.

Ellos quieren más café.
They want more coffee.

Ella es una excelente persona.
She is an excellent person.

Quick tip: Subject pronouns are usually omitted in Spanish, as they are already evident from the verb conjugation: Es una excelente persona. / She is an excellent person.

Direct object pronouns

Direct object pronouns replace the person or thing receiving the action done by the subject. They answer the question “what thing?” or “to whom?”

Spanish direct object pronouns	English direct object pronouns
me	me
te lo, la	you you (formal)
lo, la	him, her, it
nos	us
los, las os	you (plural)
los, las	them

Las compré en la florería de la esquina.
I bought them at the flower shop on the corner.

Lo rompió.
He broke it.

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect object pronouns replace the person or thing indirectly affected by the action. They answer the question “to whom?” or “for whom?”

Spanish indirect object pronouns	English indirect object pronouns
me	me
te le	you you (formal)
le	him, her, it
nos	us
les os	you (plural)
les	them

Les conté todo sobre nuestro viaje.
I told them everything about our trip.

Le hicieron un regalo fantástico para su cumpleaños.
They gave him a fantastic present for his birthday.

Important: Le and les change to se when followed by the direct object pronouns lo, la, los or las: Se lo di yo. / I gave it to him. (and not: Le lo di yo).

Prepositional pronouns

Prepositional pronouns replace nouns following a preposition such as de (from), para (for), por (by). They express how two objects or people relate to one another.

Spanish prepositional pronouns	English prepositional pronouns
mí, conmigo	me
ti, vos, contigo usted	you you (formal)
él, ella, sí, consigo	him, her
nosotros/nosotras	us
ustedes, vosotros/vosotras	you (plural)
ellos, ellas, sí, consigo	them

Esta canción es para ti.
This song is for you.

Quiero ir contigo.
I want to come with you.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate the ownership of a noun that is already clear from context either because it has been mentioned before or is being pointed out. Spanish possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they replace, and are usually preceded by articles.

Spanish possessive pronouns	English possessive pronouns
mío, mía, míos, mías	mine
tuyo, tuya, tuyos tuyas suyo, suya, suyos, suyas	yours yours (formal “you”)
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas	his, hers, its
nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras	ours
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas vuestro, vuestra, vuestros vuestras	yours (plural “you”)
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas	theirs

Este lugar es mío.
This seat is mine.

La idea no fue tuya.
The idea was not yours.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used with reflexive verbs, i.e., verbs in which the action falls back on the subject, such as bañarse (bathe), vestirse (get dressed), afeitarse (shave).

Spanish reflexive pronouns	English reflexive pronouns
me	myself
te se	yourself yourself (formal “you”)
se	himself, herself
nos	ourselves
se os	yourselves (plural “you”)
se	themselves

Él se afeita cuidadosamente.
He shaves carefully.

¿A qué hora te levantarás mañana?
What time are you going to get up tomorrow?

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause that provides information about a noun.

Spanish relative pronouns	English relative pronouns
que	that, which, who
quien, quienes (Used only for people)	who
el que, la que, los que, las que	the one that
cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas	whose
cuanto, cuanta, cuantos, cuantas	as much, as many

El libro que estoy leyendo es muy bueno.
The book that I’m reading is very good.

Mi mejor amigo, quien es abogado, ama el jazz.
My best friend, who is a lawyer, loves jazz.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns indicate an unspecified quantity of the noun they make reference to.

Spanish indefinite pronouns	English indefinite pronouns
alguien	somebody, anybody, someone, anyone
alguno, alguna	one, a, some
algunos, algunas	some
algo	something
nada	nothing
nadie	nobody, no one
ninguno	none
cualquiera	any
todo, toda	all
todos, todas	everybody, everyone
poco	little
pocos, pocas	few
mucho	much
muchos, muchas	many
otro, otra	another one
otros, otras	others

¿Quieres otro?
Would you like another one?

Hay muchos en la ciudad.
There are many in town.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point out the person or thing being referred to. They vary according to whether the thing or person is near or far, and also vary in gender and number.

		near	farther	far
Singular	masculine	este this (one)	ese that (one)	aquel that (one)
	feminine	esta this	esa that	aquella that
	neutral	esto this	eso that	aquello that
Plural	masculine	estos these (ones)	esos those (ones)	aquellos those (ones)
	feminine	estas these	esas those	aquellas those

¿Cuánto cuesta este?
How much is this one?

No me gusta esto.
I don’t like this.

Spanish pronoun placement

Spanish pronoun placement depends not only on the type of pronoun, but also on the occurrence of one or more pronouns together.

• Direct object pronouns usually go before the verb, unlike full direct objects (noun or noun phrase), which go after:

Compré las flores en la florería de la esquina.
I bought the flowers at the flower shop on the corner.

vs.

Las compré en la florería de la esquina.
I bought them at the flower shop on the corner.

• With the imperative and infinitive verbs, direct object pronouns are placed immediately after the verb, as one word:

Háblalo con alguien.
Talk about it with someone.

Debes tomarlo con calma.
You must take it easy.

• When direct and indirect object pronouns appear together, the indirect pronoun always comes first:

Me lo dijo una amiga.
A friend said it to me.

Se la compré yo.
I bought it for her.

Related articles:

• Spanish adjectives
• Spanish verbs
• Spanish adverbs
• Definite and indefinite articles in Spanish

Practice: Spanish pronouns

References

• Real Academia Española, Glosario de términos gramaticales, under “pronombre,” accessed August 28, 2024, https://www.rae.es/
• Real Academia Española, Nueva gramática de la lengua española, under “Los pronombres reflexivos,” accessed August 28, 2024, https://www.rae.es/
• Enciclopedia del Lenguaje, “Pronombres,” by Carla Giani. Last modified January 15, 2024,