Subject pronouns and forms of address: tú, usted, ustedes

What it is

Subject pronouns say who does something: yo (I), tú (you), ella (she), nosotros (we)… The big difference from English is "you". Spanish says tú to a friend, usted to someone you treat with respect, and ustedes to more than one person. And because the verb already shows the person, Spanish usually leaves the pronoun out.

How to form it

• nosotras and ellas are for groups made up only of women or girls. A mixed group is nosotros or ellos, even with just one man in it.
• usted and ustedes take third-person verbs. Usted means "you", but its verb is the él / ella form; ustedes takes the ellos form. Compare the phrases you already know:

• In writing, usted and ustedes are often shortened to Ud. and Uds. yo takes no capital letter, except at the start of a sentence.
• él (he) carries a written accent; el without one is "the": Él es el profesor. In the same way, tú is "you" and tu is "your".

In Spain, a group of friends is vosotros / vosotras (¿Sois de aquí?). In Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America, vos replaces tú: vos sos (you are). This course uses tú and ustedes, which everyone understands.

When to use it

tú or usted? Use tú with friends, family, children, classmates and people your age in relaxed settings. Use usted with older people you don't know, shop assistants, officials, doctors and, very often, teachers. Customs vary: in Colombia and Costa Rica some people say usted even to family, while in the Caribbean tú is used more widely. When in doubt, start with usted and switch when the other person uses tú with you. In the plural there is no choice: ustedes is for friends and strangers alike.

Leave the pronoun out. Soy de Lima already means "I'm from Lima"; saying yo in every sentence sounds heavy. Use the pronoun:

• to contrast two people: Yo soy de Lima, ¿y tú?
• to make clear who you mean, since ¿Es de Chile? could be about him, her or you (usted): ¿Ella es de Chile?
• on its own, with no verb: —¿Quién es de Perú? —¡Yo!

No word for "it". Things and ideas have no subject pronoun: —¿Qué es? —Es un libro. "It's easy" is just Es fácil. As subjects, él and ella are for people and animals.

• ¿Cómo estás, Sebastián?How are you, Sebastián?a friend → tú
• Buenos días, señora Ruiz. ¿Cómo está usted?Good morning, Mrs Ruiz. How are you?respect → usted
• Yo soy de Cusco y él es de Arequipa.I am from Cusco and he is from Arequipa.contrast → pronouns
• Ellas son Daniela y Paola.This is Daniela and this is Paola.two women → ellas
• ¿Ustedes son de Santo Domingo?Are you all from Santo Domingo?more than one → ustedes
• Es un libro muy bueno.It's a very good book.no word for “it”

Contrasts and traps

• usted with the -s form: ¿Usted eres…? ✗ → ¿Usted es…? For the verb, treat usted like él.
• ellos for a mixed group: Pedro, Ana and Sofía → ellos.
• "It is": no él or ello for things. Es interesante, never ello es interesante.

If you also speak Portuguese

Brazilian você is informal, so it maps to tú, which has its own verb forms: tú eres, not tú es. usted is o senhor / a senhora. Vocês is ustedes, and a gente is never la gente: use the nosotros form, somos.