Spanish Pronouns Book

Spanish pronouns look familiar until they start moving. Lo compré ayer puts the pronoun before the verb, Quiero comprarlo attaches it to the end, and Se lo digo replaces le with se. This 12-page guide works through six types of pronouns and, most usefully for English speakers, explains where they go and how they combine. Each form comes with two example sentences and translations, and a four-column reference table brings everything together.

Four ways to say "you"

The subject pronoun section shows that Spanish divides "you" by formality and number, with a regional difference:

In Latin America, ustedes is used for all plural "you", formal or not. The guide also notes that subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person: Hablo español is more natural than Yo hablo español unless you want emphasis.

Where object pronouns go

Section 2 gives the placement rules that apply to both direct and indirect object pronouns:

1. Before a conjugated verb: Te veo. Lo compré ayer.
2. Attached to an infinitive: Voy a verla. Quiero comprarlo.
3. Attached to a present participle: Estoy estudiándolo. Estamos esperándote.
4. Attached to an affirmative command: Cómelo. Léelo.

The last two cases usually require a written accent to keep the original stress, as in estudiándolo and cómelo. With an infinitive or participle, placing the pronoun before the conjugated verb is also correct: La voy a ver means the same as Voy a verla.

Direct, indirect, and gustar

The guide distinguishes direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las) from indirect ones (le, les), which express "to" or "for" someone: Le digo la verdad, Les leo un cuento. Section 3.2 then shows the verbs that most often take indirect pronouns, starting with gustar, where the thing liked is the subject: Me gusta el café, Te gustan las flores.

Combining two pronouns

When two object pronouns appear together, the indirect one comes first: Me lo da, Te la compro. If both begin with l, the indirect pronoun changes to se: Se lo digo, not le lo digo. The guide lists forgetting this change among the common mistakes.

Possessives and demonstratives

Possessives come in two sets: short forms before the noun (mi casa, tus amigos, su coche) and long forms after the verb or on their own (El libro es mío, Estas llaves son tuyas). Because su and suyo can mean his, her, your, or their, context decides the meaning.

Demonstratives use three distances: este near the speaker, ese near the listener, and aquel far from both, plus neuter forms esto, eso, and aquello for ideas or unidentified things: ¿Qué es esto?

Exercises and reference table

Three exercises cover replacing nouns with object pronouns, choosing reflexive pronouns, and possessives. Only the first item of the first exercise is solved as an example, so the quick reference table in section 9, which lists subject, direct, indirect, and reflexive forms for every person, is your tool for checking the rest.

Anyone who has covered the present tense can start with it. Reflexive verbs for daily routines, such as levantarse, vestirse, and irse, make an easy starting point for practice: describe your morning in five sentences, each with a different verb.