The pronouns used in the Spanish nominative case are the standard ones that are typically the first ones you learn.<\/p>\n
Yo<\/em> \u2014 I<\/p>\n T\u00fa\/vos<\/em> \u2014 You (informal)<\/p>\n Usted<\/em> \u2014 You (formal)<\/p>\n \u00c9l<\/em> \u2014 He<\/p>\n Ella<\/em> \u2014 She<\/p>\n Nosotros\/nosotras<\/em> \u2014 We<\/p>\n Vosotros\/vosotras<\/em> \u2014 You (plural, informal)<\/p>\n Ustedes<\/em> \u2014 You (plural, formal)<\/p>\n Ellos<\/em> \u2014 They (masculine)<\/p>\n Ellas<\/em> \u2014 They (feminine)<\/p>\n Here are a couple of example sentences:<\/p>\n Los profesores (ellos)<\/b> les dan los libros.<\/em> \u2014 The professors (they) give them the books.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Yo<\/strong> voy a la biblioteca.<\/em> \u2014 I go to the library.<\/p>\n Nosotros<\/strong><\/em> comemos siempre. \u2014 <\/em>We always eat.<\/p>\n Nouns in the accusative case are direct objects, <\/strong>meaning they directly receive the action of the verb. In our example sentence from the last section, the water is the direct object: “The dog drinks the water.”<\/strong><\/p>\n The Spanish pronouns used in the accusative case are:<\/p>\n Me<\/em> \u2014 me<\/p>\n Te<\/em> \u2014 you (relating to t\u00fa)<\/em><\/p>\n Lo<\/em> \u2014 him, it (masculine) and you (relating to usted)<\/em><\/p>\n La<\/em> \u2014 her, it (feminine) and you (relating to usted)<\/em><\/p>\n Nos<\/em> \u2014 us<\/p>\n Os<\/em> \u2014 you (relating to vosotros<\/em> and vosotras)<\/em><\/p>\n Los<\/em> \u2014 them (masculine) and you (relating to ustedes)<\/em><\/p>\n Las<\/em> \u2014 them (feminine) and you (relating to ustedes)<\/em><\/p>\n In the sentence Yo quiero helado<\/strong><\/em> (I want ice cream), the helado<\/em> is in the accusative case since it’s receiving the action of “being wanted.” Notice that the noun doesn’t change.<\/p>\n If we replaced it with a pronoun, though, you’d change helado<\/em> to lo <\/em>since el helado<\/em> is a masculine noun. The resulting sentence would look like this: Yo lo<\/strong> quiero <\/em>(I want it).<\/p>\n Some other examples:<\/p>\n Yo lo<\/strong> veo. \u2014 <\/em>I see it.<\/p>\n Mi hermana nos<\/strong> ense\u00f1a. \u2014 <\/em>My sister teaches us.<\/p>\n Nouns in the dative case refer to indirect objects.<\/strong> They indirectly receive the action of a sentence. In the sentence “I talked to him,”<\/strong> the word “him” is in the dative case since the action of being “talked to” is being received by “him.” If the sentence were “I asked him,” then “him” would be in the accusative case since the action is being applied directly!<\/p>\n Confused? Don’t be! Think of indirect objects as nouns or pronouns that are being acted on, to, for, forward, on behalf of, etc. There’s a degree of separation, usually indicated by a preposition in English.<\/p>\n The Spanish pronouns for the dative case are:<\/p>\n Me<\/em> \u2014 me<\/p>\n Te<\/em> \u2014 you (informal)<\/p>\n Le, se <\/em>\u2014 him, her, it or you (formal)<\/p>\n Nos<\/em> \u2014 us (formal)<\/p>\n Vos<\/em> \u2014 us (informal)<\/p>\n Les, se<\/em> \u2014 you (formal)<\/p>\n Les, se<\/em> \u2014 them<\/p>\n Let’s return to this example sentence: Los profesores les<\/strong> dan los libros.<\/em> In this sentence, the les<\/em> is in the dative case, showing that the professors give the books “to them.”<\/p>\n Some other examples:<\/p>\n Yo doy el regalo a mi padre.<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 I give the present to my father.<\/p>\n Yo le<\/strong> doy el regalo.<\/em> \u2014 I give him the present. (“I give the present to him.”)<\/p>\n Mi hermana escribe a su amigo<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong> \u2014 My sister writes to her friend.<\/p>\n Mi hermana le<\/strong> escribe.<\/em> \u2014 My sister writes to him.<\/p>\n Wait, but when do you use se? <\/em><\/strong>This little pronoun is reserved for those moments when a pronoun in the accusative case (a direct object) wants to join a pronoun in the dative case (an indirect object).<\/p>\n If we wanted to change the\u00a0los libros<\/em> to a pronoun in this sentence Los profesores les dan los libros, <\/em>we’d also have to change les<\/em> to se<\/em>:<\/p>\n Los profesores se<\/strong> los dan. <\/em>\u2014 The professors gave them (the books) to them (the people).<\/p>\n Just remember that the indirect object pronoun\u2014that is, the pronoun in the dative case\u2014always comes before the direct object pronoun.<\/p>\n This case denotes objects which are owned or possessed by someone.<\/strong> In other words, “mine” is in the genitive\/possessive case in this example: “This is mine!” <\/strong><\/p>\n The genitive case pronouns in Spanish are gendered. That is, you need to take into account the gender of the person you’re referring to when you’re choosing which pronoun to use:<\/p>\n m\u00edo(s), m\u00eda(s)<\/em> \u2014 mine<\/p>\n tuyos(s), tuya(s)<\/em> \u2014 yours (corresponding to t\u00fa)<\/em><\/p>\n suyo(s), suya(s)<\/em> \u2014 his, hers or yours (corresponding to usted)<\/em><\/p>\n nuestro(s), nuestra(s)<\/em> \u2014 ours<\/p>\n vuestro(s), vuestra(s)<\/em> \u2014 yours (corresponding to vosotros\/vosotras)<\/em><\/p>\n suyo(s), suya(s)<\/em> \u2014 theirs, or yours (corresponding to ustedes)<\/em><\/p>\n This case is used basically the same in Spanish as it is in English so it shouldn’t give you too much trouble. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n El chocolate no es tuyo<\/b>.<\/strong> Es m\u00edo.<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 The chocolate isn\u2019t yours. It\u2019s mine.<\/p>\n Los libros son suyos<\/b>.<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 The books are theirs.<\/p>\n Son\u00a0nuestros<\/strong> amigos.<\/em>\u2014 They are our friends.<\/p>\n If you want to use the possessive case with a noun (ie “my item”), you’ll need to also learn a few possessive adjectives. That topic is too broad for our little post but you can learn a lot more about possessive adjectives in Spanish with our guide<\/a>. The Spanish possessive adjectives are as follows:<\/p>\n mi(s) \u2014\u00a0<\/em>my<\/p>\n tu(s)<\/em> \u2014 your (informal)<\/p>\n su(s)<\/em> \u2014 his, her, their, its, your (corresponding to usted)<\/em><\/p>\n nuestro(s)\/nuestra(s)<\/em> \u2014 our<\/p>\n vuestro(s)\/vuestra(s)<\/em> \u2014 your (corresponding to vosotros\/vosotras)<\/em><\/p>\n Use the -s<\/em> form of the possessive pronoun when the noun attached to it is plural. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n Tienes\u00a0<\/em>mi<\/em><\/strong> m\u00f3vil.<\/em>\u2014 You have my phone.<\/p>\n \u00bfVas a comer tus<\/strong> papas fritas? <\/em>\u2014 Are you going to eat your french fries?<\/p>\n Even if you don’t need to alter words to make them fit into a case, knowing what function a word is serving in a sentence can be quite beneficial.<\/p>\n Here are all the reasons why Spanish cases matter:<\/p>\n As with anything, the best way to master Spanish cases is to practice them. Here are some of the best ways to do that:<\/p>\n The best way to understand how to use Spanish cases correctly is to hear and use them in conversation.<\/p>\n After all, when you were learning to speak your first language, no one had to explain anything to you about pronouns, cases or word order. Over time, you just figured out that certain sentences just \u201csounded\u201d right. It\u2019s the same with Spanish.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing like repetition to really drive a grammar point home.<\/p>\n Here are some good sites to drill Spanish cases.<\/p>\n Watching videos with subtitles is like listening to a conversation, but with the added benefit of seeing the words at the same time. This allows you to practice reading and listening simultaneously to get a real grasp of your Spanish cases.<\/p>\n Here are the best sites to practice listening to sentence structure.<\/p>\n FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n P.S. If you decide to sign up now, you can take advantage of our current sale!<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n Accusative Case<\/h3>\n
Dative Case<\/h3>\n
Genitive\/Possessive Case<\/h3>\n
Why Do Spanish Cases Matter?<\/h2>\n
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How to Practice Spanish Cases<\/h2>\n
Converse with a native speaker<\/h3>\n
Do some online grammar exercises<\/h3>\n
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Do listening exercises with captions<\/h3>\n
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