Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

Module A:Making goals  • 479 Lengua 6.1: Pronoun review Pronouns are some of the first words we learn in a language. These are words like me , you , it , and theirs . In this Lengua section, we will review the four main types of pronouns as well as two more to be aware of. A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun. For example, the pronoun she can stand in for my sister once the context is clear. Subject pronouns The first pronouns we encountered were subject pronouns. These tell us who does a verbal action, and they include yo , tú , él , ella , usted , nosotros , nosotras , ellos , ellas , and ustedes . Verb conjugation depends on the subject. Subject pronouns usually precede the verb in a statement, but they tend to be placed after the verb in a question. In many parts of Latin America, speakers use vos instead of tú . In much of Spain, speakers use vosotros instead of ustedes . English has a subject pronoun that Spanish does not have: it . Spanish has this word as an indirect and direct object pronoun but not as a subject pronoun. Instead of using this subject pronoun in Spanish, we simply conjugate the verb appropriately: “Es interesante” (It is interesting). Because of the richness of verbal forms in Spanish, subject pronouns are often omitted. With the con- jugated verb hablamos , for example, the verb form clearly communicates who the subject is, and so the pronoun nosotros is unnecessary. In Spanish, use the subject pronouns only when the context is not clear or in order to add emphasis. ¿De dónde es usted ? Dicen que hay fantasmas en esa casa, pero yo nunca he visto nada extraño allí. Algún día me gustaría viajar por Italia y España. ¿Adónde quieres ir tú ? Direct object pronouns We use direct object pronouns to stand in for direct objects. Direct objects are who or what directly receives the verbal action. Another way to think of this is “Who or what gets verbed?” In the sentence “I see the cat,” the direct object is the cat. In the sentence “I see it,” the word it is a direct object pronoun. Direct object pronouns stand in for the direct object; they are a replacement. They will refer back to something or someone that has already been mentioned. The direct object pronouns are me , te , lo , la , nos , los , and las . (Also, te corresponds to vos , and os corresponds to vosotros .) No puedo encontrar mis llaves. No recuerdo dónde las dejé. ¡Xitlali habla muy bien el árabe! ¿Por cuántos años lo ha estudiado? Te vi en el parque ayer, pero no pude quedarme para hablar; tenía que trabajar.