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Introduction To Pronouns

Here are some common questions

whenever the subject of pronouns comes up. Do I have to learn about pronouns? Is it important to learn about Spanish pronouns? Read on for the answers to these and other important questions... Learning about the Spanish parts of speech is an important step in the process of becoming fluent in the language. Pronouns are used in almost every sentence so it's worth spending some time understanding them well. This page will give some introduction to the topic and give a starting point for the study of pronouns. It'll give a simplified way of talking about pronouns and the common names of the several different kinds of pronouns. Other pages will go more in depth about the different, specific kinds of pronouns that are used in the Spanish language.

What Are Pronouns?

What's the definition of a pronoun? Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns in a sentence. So since every sentence has a subject which is made up of nouns and pronouns, most every phrase will contain a pronoun. Where is Sam? I haven't seen him. In this short exchange, the word him is a pronoun. It takes the place or substitutes for the name Sam in the question (which is a noun).

Sometimes sentences use pronouns when the subject noun is not specifically known or available as in the sentence it's snowing. So in this short sentence there is a subject-noun and a verb. And the verb is the word snowing (or is snowing) and the subject noun is the pronoun it.

Types Of Pronouns

How many kinds of pronouns are there? What are the names of the different types of pronouns? Here is a list of specific pronoun groupings. Click on the pronoun types with links to read and learn more about it.

There are several different types of pronouns:

personal
possessive
reflexive
disjunctive
relative
demonstrative
interogative

Possessive pronouns are made from personal pronouns and speak of ownership. A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject. In English this is seen in the phrase he hurt himself.

Attributes of A Pronoun

What attributes does a pronoun have? What ways are pronouns talked about and described? One of the main things to remember about using pronouns in Spanish is the use of tu and Usted. This is a major point of difference between the English and Spanish languages. The pronoun tu is what's called an informal address -- a word for you that is used with people you know well. On the other hand the word Usted is also a word to say you but it is reserved for formal address and is used with people you don't know well, or to show respect to people who are older than the speaker.

Like nouns pronouns have gender. They are described as being masculine and feminine. The English word he translates to el and the Spanish word for she is ella. Pronouns can be in singular or plural form. One or many items. To express the English words they or them use the Spanish word ellos.

The Work Of A Pronoun

Pronouns generally do the same work as nouns in the sentence structure acting as the subject, object(direct object and indirect object), object of a preposition, and complements.

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