1. SER
and
SUBJECT
PRONOUNS

2. Do you know what’s meant by 1st
person, 2nd
person, 3rd
person?
1st
person is the person who is speaking – I
2nd
is the person to whom one is speaking – you
3rd
is the person about whom one is speaking -- he,
she, it
I, you, he, she, it are all singular pronouns. Each refers
to one person. But we also have plural pronouns:
1st
person plural = I + another person = we
2nd
person plural = you + another person = y’all
3rd
person plural = he/she/it + another person = they

3. These pronouns are called SUBJECT PRONOUNS:
I we
you
he, she, it they, y’all*
What that means is that these pronouns are used
as the SUBJECT of the sentence:
I read a book. (Not *Me read a book.)
You read a book. (Not *Your read a book.)
He reads a book. (Not *Him reads a book.)

4. singular plural
1st
person I we
2nd
person you
3rd
person he, she, it they, y’all*
Pronouns are always, always, ALWAYS in this
order. When you learn pronouns in any
language, this is the order in which you’ll find
them. When you learn the verbs that go with
the pronouns, the verbs will always, always,
ALWAYS be in this order.

5. singular plural
1st
person _____ ______
2nd
person _____ ______
3rd
person _____ ______
Question: How often are pronouns found in this
order?
Answer: Always, always, ALWAYS.

6. Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.

7. Following are the Spanish subject pronouns:
yo nosotros
tú
él, ella ellos
They correspond to the English subject
pronouns:
I we
you
he, she they, y’all*

8. Spanish has two additional pronouns: usted (Ud.) and ustedes
(Uds.).
“Ud.” means “you.”
“Uds.” means “y’all.”
“Ud.” is used with people to whom you should show respect,
people who are older than you are or in a position of authority.
It’s pretty safe to say that if you call the person
Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss/Dr./Prof. + last name rather than by his first
name, you should use “Ud.” rather than “tú.” If you call the
person by his first name, you should probably use “tú” with him.
“Uds.” is used in Spain to show respect just like Ud. is. But
everywhere else, it just means “y’all”
However, IN SPAIN “vosotros,” the familiar form you use with
friends (people you address by their first name), doesn’t exist in

9. In spite of the fact that “Ud.” means the same
thing “tú” does (“you”), it’s treated like a third
person pronoun:
yo nosotros
tú
él, ella, Ud. ellos
What that means is that anything that applies to
the third person (like verb endings and
OBJECT pronouns) also applies to “Ud.”

10. The same is true of “Uds.” Even though it means
the same thing as “vosotros” (“y’all”), it goes
with the 3rd
person plural:
yo nosotros
tú
él, ella, Ud. ellos, Uds.

11. One more note about subject pronouns: the
-os in two of them can change to –as if
every member of the group is female:
yo nosotros, nosotras
tú
él, ella, Ud. ellos, ellas, Uds.

12. SER
“Ser” means “to be.” It’s the most irregular
verb there is in both English and Spanish.
am are
are
is are
soy somos
eres
es son

13. I we am are
you are are
he, she they, y’all is are
yo nosotros soy somos
tú eres
él, ella ellos es son
Just as “I” takes the verb that’s in its position
(“am”), “yo” takes the verb that’s in its position
(“soy”). In other words, “yo soy” is “I am,” “tú
eres” is “you are,” etc.

14. However, you don’t have to use the pronouns. Look at the
Spanish forms of “ser”:
soy somos
eres sois
es son
All of them are different. So “soy” all by itself means “I am.”
“Soy alto” means “I am tall.” “Eres” all by itself means “you
are.” “Soy” can never mean anything but “I am,” and “eres”
can never mean anything but “you are.” You never have to
use a subject pronoun in Spanish, because when you look at
the verb, you know what the subject has to be.
If you say “yo soy,” it doesn’t mean “I am”; it means “I am.” In
other words, it emphasizes the pronoun. However, you can
say “él es” or “ella es” or “Ud. es” or “ellos son” or “Uds. son”
to clarify the subject. That is, “soy” can mean only “I am,” so
the only time you use “yo” is if you want to emphasize it, but
“es” can mean “he is,” “she is,” or “you are,” so you can use
the pronoun to show whether you mean “he,” “she,” or “you.”

15. In your homework, I’ll give you a subject and a blank. You’ll put in
the correct form of “ser”:
Ellos _______
Juan _______ (Note: “Juan” is the same as “él.”)
Elena y yo ______ (Note: “Elena y yo” is the same as “nosotros.”)
Ud. ___________
Tú ___________
Maria y Elena _son__ (Note: “Maria y Elena” is the same as ellas)
son
es
somos
es
eres