Understand the Spanish subject pronouns

yo, tú, usted - I and you

yo🔊 means "I". For "you" (singularsingularThe grammatical form used for exactly one person or thing.), Spanish has two forms: tú🔊 is informal and used with friends, family, or children.

usted🔊 is the polite, formal form, used for example with adults you do not know well.

él, ella - he and she

él🔊 means "he", ella🔊 means "she". Here Spanish distinguishes masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish. and femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish., just like English does.

nosotros/nosotras, vosotros/vosotras - we and you (pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing.)

"We" has two forms: nosotros🔊 for an all-male or mixed group, nosotras🔊 only for an all-female group. The same pattern applies to the pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. "you": vosotros🔊 or vosotras🔊.

vosotros🔊/vosotras🔊 is the informal pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. "you", used mainly in Spain. In much of Latin America, ustedes🔊 is used instead.

ellos/ellas, ustedes - more pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. forms

ellos🔊 (masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish. or mixed) and ellas🔊 (only femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish.) both mean "they".

ustedes🔊 is the pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. of usted🔊. Depending on the region, it is either the polite pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. "you" or simply the everyday pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. "you".