1. SER and SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Sra. Blanco

2. 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

3. These pronouns are called SUBJECT PRONOUNS:
I we
you y’all
he, she, it they
What that means is that these pronouns are used as the SUBJECT of the sentence:

4. singular plural
1st person I we
2nd person you 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.

5. singular plural
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
Question: How often are pronouns found in this
order?
Answer: Always, always, ALWAYS.

6. Following are the Spanish subject pronouns:
yo nosotros
tú vosotros
él, ella ellos
They correspond to the English subject pronouns:
I we
you y’all
he, she they

7. 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.

8. In spite of the fact that “Ud
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.”

9. 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 nosotros, nosotras
tú vosotros, vosotras
él, ella, Ud. ellos, ellas, Uds.

10. SER
“Ser” means “to be.” It’s the most irregular verb there is in both English and Spanish.
am are
are are
is are
soy somos
eres sois
es son

11. I we am are
you y’all are are
he, she they is are
yo nosotros soy somos
tú vosotros eres sois
él, ella ellos es 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.

12. SER- to be am are soy somos are eres sois are es is are son yo
nosotros (as) I we tú
vosotros (as)
you
y’all
él, ella, usted
he, she you formal
ellos, ellas ustedes
they

13. In your homework, I’ll give you a subject and a blank
In your homework, I’ll give you a subject and a blank. You’ll put in the correct form of “ser”:
Ellos _______
Juan _______ (Note: “Juan” is the same as “él.”)
Elena y yo ______ (Note: “Elena y yo” is the same as “nosotros.”)
Ud. ___________
Tú ___________
son es
somos es
eres

14. However, you don’t have to use the pronouns
However, you don’t have to use the pronouns. Look at the Spanish forms of “ser”:
soy somos
eres sois
es 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.

15. However, you don’t have to use the pronouns
However, you don’t have to use the pronouns. Look at the Spanish forms of “ser”:
soy somos
eres sois
es 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.”

16. Click here to go to practice worksheet