Spanish pronouns are yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), nosotros (we), and ellos (they) for the subject, plus mi, tu, and su for possession and esto, eso, estos, and esos for pointing something out. The part that surprises English speakers most is how often Spanish leaves the subject pronoun out entirely, since the verb ending already says who is acting. Here are the sixteen pronouns Vocabcord's A1 Spanish pack teaches, with audio, plus the rules for when to use them and when to drop them.
The pronouns, with audio
These sixteen entries are the whole pronouns theme inside Vocabcord's 625-phrase A1 Spanish pack: six subject pronouns, six possessives, and four demonstratives. Tap the play button on any row to hear it.
| Spanish | English | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| yo | I | I am from Poland. |
| tú | you | How are you? |
| él | he | He is my brother. |
| ella | she | She is a teacher. |
| nosotros | we | We are friends. |
| ellos | they | They are at home. |
| mi | my | My book is here. |
| tu | your | Is this your bag? |
| su | his | His car is red. |
| su | her | Her name is Maria. |
| nuestro | our | Our house is small. |
| su | their | Their kids play here. |
| esto | this | This is my friend. |
| eso | that | That is far away. |
| estos | these | These are my keys. |
| esos | those | Those flowers are nice. |
The six subject pronouns
Yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), nosotros (we), and ellos (they) cover the people a sentence talks about. Two gaps are worth flagging if you already know some Spanish: this set has no usted (the formal you) and no vosotros (the plural you used in Spain), so learning just these six gets you a workable, slightly informal, Latin-American-leaning Spanish. Nosotros and ellos also have all-feminine forms, nosotras and ellas, that this pack does not carry yet; use the forms above for a mixed or all-male group, and switch to the feminine versions once a group is entirely women.
Why Spanish drops its pronouns so often
Spanish verb endings already say who is speaking, so the subject pronoun is frequently optional. Soy de Polonia (I am from Poland) is a complete, normal sentence on its own; the corpus's own example for yo adds the pronoun anyway, Yo soy de Polonia, which is also correct and leans on yo for emphasis, roughly the way English stresses the word I out loud. The same choice runs through the whole set: Está en casa and Él está en casa both mean he is at home, and Spanish speakers add the pronoun mainly to contrast one person against another or to head off confusion. Drop the pronoun by default, and bring it back only when the sentence would otherwise be unclear.
The possessives: mi, tu, su, and nuestro
Mi (my), tu (your), su (his, her, their, or the formal your), and nuestro (our) sit in front of the thing owned rather than the owner. The corpus's own examples show the pattern at work: Mi libro está aquí (my book is here), ¿Es este tu bolso? (is this your bag?), Su coche es rojo (his car is red), and Sus hijos juegan aquí (their kids play here). Notice that last one: the headword above is su, but the example spells it sus, because a Spanish possessive agrees in number with the thing owned, never with the owner. Nuestro shows the same behavior with gender added: its own corpus example reads Nuestra casa es pequeña (our house is small), swapping the ending to match the feminine casa.
What does su mean in Spanish?
Su is the one possessive that can mean four different things: his, her, their, or your when speaking formally to someone as usted. Vocabcord's own corpus rows show three of those readings from the identical word: Su coche es rojo is glossed his car is red, Su nombre es María is glossed her name is María, and Sus hijos juegan aquí is glossed their kids play here. Nothing in the word itself signals which reading is meant; the rest of the sentence has to do that work. When a sentence would genuinely be ambiguous, Spanish speakers add de él (of his), de ella (of hers), or de ellos (of theirs) after the noun, as in su coche, el de ella (her car, spelled out).
Esto, eso, and their family: this and that in Spanish
Esto (this), eso (that), estos (these), and esos (those) point at something instead of naming it. Spanish demonstratives change their ending to match the gender and number of whatever they point at, and the corpus's own examples show several of those variants even though the table above lists one headword per row: Este es mi amigo (masculine este, matching amigo), Eso está muy lejos (neutral eso, pointing at an idea rather than a named object), Estas son mis llaves (feminine plural estas, matching llaves), and Esas flores son bonitas (feminine plural esas, matching flores). Learn the four headwords above as the neutral defaults, then let the ending shift with whatever noun follows.
Small words, constant repeats
Pronouns repeat more than almost any other word class, since a sentence about a person needs one somewhere almost every time. That repetition is exactly what spaced practice is built for. Plug in your phone and one phrase plays out loud, drawn from a corpus graded A1 to C2 on the New General Service List and spaced so a word returns before it fades, no session to remember and no app to open. Get Vocabcord on the App Store and let yo, tú, and su settle in a charge at a time.
Common questions
What are the pronouns in Spanish?
The six subject pronouns are yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), nosotros (we), and ellos (they). Spanish also uses possessives like mi, tu, and su, and demonstratives like esto and eso, which behave as pronouns too.
Do you need to use pronouns in Spanish?
Not usually for the subject. Spanish verb endings already show who is acting, so soy de Polonia (I am from Poland) works without yo. Speakers add the subject pronoun mainly for emphasis or to avoid confusion between two people, as in él está en casa versus ella está en casa.
What does su mean in Spanish?
Su can mean his, her, their, or your when speaking formally to someone as usted. The word itself does not say which; context does. Spanish speakers add de él, de ella, or de ellos after the noun when a sentence would otherwise be ambiguous.
What is the difference between tú and usted in Spanish?
Tú is the informal you, used with friends, family, and people your own age. Usted is the formal you, used with strangers, elders, and in business, and it takes the same third-person verb endings as él and ella. Vocabcord's A1 pack does not yet carry a dedicated row for usted, so this guide focuses on the six subject pronouns it does teach.
What is the difference between esto and eso in Spanish?
Esto points at something close to the speaker (this), and eso points at something farther away or already mentioned (that). Both take plural forms, estos and esos, and every one of the four can shift its ending to match the gender of the noun it points at, so esto can also surface as este or esta depending on what it modifies.
