Spanish Prepositions List

Here is a list of commonly used Spanish prepositions.

a ante bajo con contra de desde en entre hacia hasta para por sin tras

to; at before under with against from; of from in; on between towards until for for without after

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to show the location of the noun(s) they replace. They are the equivalent to "this one", "these", "that one", & "those". In Spanish they must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

There are 3 categories of demonstrative pronouns in Spanish that relate to the distance of the noun being spoken about from the speaker.

Group 1. Noun is near the speaker
Group 2. Noun is near the person being spoken to
Group 3. Noun is far from both the speaker and the person being spoken to

Group #1 (Noun is near speaker)

masculine singular	feminine singular		masculine plural	feminine plural
éste	ésta		éstos	éstas

éste (libro) éstos (libros)

this one (book) these (books)

Group #2 (Noun is near person being spoken to)

masculine singular	feminine singular		masculine plural	feminine plural
ése	ésa		ésos	ésas

ése (libro) ésos (libros)

this one (book) these (books)

Group #3 (Noun is far from speaker and person being spoken to)

masculine singular	feminine singular		masculine plural	feminine plural
aquél	aquélla		aquéllos	aquéllas

aquél (edificio) aquéllos (edificios)

this one (book) these (books)

Indirect Object Pronouns

I.  Here are the forms for the indirect object pronoun in Spanish. Notice how the forms for the first and second persons are the exact same as the forms for the direct object pronouns. Remember that indirect object pronouns answer the questions "To whom?", "For whom?", "To what?", and "For what?".

	singular	plural
first person	me	nos
second person	te	os
third person	le	les

 

II.  Indirect object pronouns in Spanish are placed before the conjugated verb, and also before the direct object pronoun (if the sentence has both a direct object and indirect object pronoun).

Antonio me da un regalo. Antonio nos (I.O.) las (D.O.) compra.

Antonio is giving me a gift. Antonio buys them for us.

Direct Object Pronouns

I.  Here are the forms for the direct object pronoun in Spanish. (Please note that for third person singular and plural direct object pronouns, the choice of "lo" or "la" will depend on whether the direct object being referred to is a masculine or feminine noun.)

	singular	plural
first person	me	nos
second person	te	os
third person	lo/la	los/las

 

II.  Direct object pronouns in Spanish are placed directly before the conjugated verb, even if the sentence is a question. If the verb is in its infinitive form or is in the form of a command, this is not the case.

Lo busco. ¿Los tienes?

I am looking for it. Do you have them?

Subject Pronouns

Pronouns are used to replace nouns and are usually used to avoid repetition. The subject pronouns are used for personal nouns such as I, you, them, etc.

There are some special notes that need to be mentioned when discussing subject pronouns in Spanish:

1. Spanish differentiates between formal and familiar "you", whereas English does not. Therefore you need to know when to use the formal or the familiar. In general, tú (or vos, see note #2 below) is used with friends/peers, children, and pets. Usted would be used with strangers, persons of authority, and elders.

2. The pronoun "vos" is used in certain Latin American countries instead of "tú". The singular familiar pronoun for "you" that is taught in the United States is almost always "tú".

3. The pronoun "vosotros" is used in Spain only, not in Latin America. In Latin America, the plural familiar form for "you" will be "ustedes". Therefore, they use "ustedes" for both the formal and familiar plural.

4. Spanish is a pro-drop language, meaning that the subject pronouns "yo", "tú", "nosotros", & "vosotros" are not required in a sentence as they are easily understood by the verb endings. 

5. Note that while in English 'it' is used a lot in Spanish it is not. Spanish sticks with the actual name of the noun, no replacement


English: The car needs repairs = it needs repairs
vs
Spanish: El carro necesita reparaciones = el carro necesita reparaciones


Still, Spanish does have an 'it' translation which is 'eso' or 'esa' but as you will see from most Spanish grammar books it will not be listed.

	singular	plural
first person	yo	nosotros
second person	tú; vos*	vosotros
third person	él, ella, usted	ellos, ellas, ustedes

yo tú, vos él ella usted nosotros vosotros ellos ellas ustedes

I you (familiar singular) he she you (formal singular)we you (familiar plural) they (masculine, or any group including a male) they (feminine) you (plural)

Make sure to send me questions or comments,

Luis