Transcript SER and SUBJECT PRONOUNS

SER
and
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Sra. Blanco
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
These pronouns are called SUBJECT PRONOUNS:
I
you
he, she, it
we
y’all
they
What that means is that these pronouns are used
as the SUBJECT of the sentence:
1st person
2nd person
singular
I
you
plural
we
y’all (improper
English)
3rd person
he, she, it
they
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.
singular
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
plural
Question: How often are pronouns found in this
order?
Answer: Always, always, ALWAYS.
Following are the Spanish subject pronouns:
yo
tú
él, ella
nosotros
vosotros
ellos
They correspond to the English subject pronouns:
I
you
he, she
we
y’all
they
Spanish has two additional pronouns: usted (Ud.) and ustedes
(Uds.).
“Usted.” means “you.” Formal
“Ustedes.” means “y’all.” Formal
“Usted.” 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.
“Ustedes.” is used in Spain to show respect just like Ud. is.
However, “vosotros,” the familiar form you use with friends
(people you address by their first name), doesn’t exist in Latin
America, and they use “Uds.” no matter who they’re talking to.
In spite of the fact that “Ud.” means the same
thing “tú” does (“you”), it’s treated like a third
person pronoun. 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
vosotros
él, ella,
ellos,
usted
ustedes
What that means is that anything that applies to
the third person (like verb endings and OBJECT
pronouns) also applies to “Usted.”
One more note about subject pronouns: the
-os in three of them can change to –as if
EVERY member of the group is female:
yo
tú
él, ella, Ud.
nosotros, nosotras
vosotros, vosotras
ellos, ellas, Uds.
SER
“Ser” means “to be.” It’s the most irregular
verb there is in both English and Spanish.
am
are
is
are
are
are
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
son
I
you
he, she
we
y’all
they
am
are
is
are
are
are
yo
tú
él, ella
nosotros
vosotros
ellos
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
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.
SER- to be
soy
somos
am
are
eres
sois
are
are
es
son
yo
nosotros (as)
tú
vosotros (as)
él, ella,
usted
ellos, ellas
ustedes
is
are
I
we
you
y’all
he, she
you formal
they
In your homework, I’ll give you a subject and a blank. You’ll put in
the correct form of “ser”:
son
Ellos _______
es
Juan _______
(Note: “Juan” is the same as “él.”)
somos (Note: “Elena y yo” is the same as “nosotros.”)
Elena y yo ______
es
Ud. ___________
eres
Tú ___________
However, you don’t have to use the pronouns. Look at the
Spanish forms of “ser”:
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
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.
However, you don’t have to use the pronouns. Look at the
Spanish forms of “ser”:
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
son
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.”
Click here to go to practice worksheet