Introducing yourself · Spanish grammar A1

Contents · A1

Introducing yourself in Spanish takes a few set phrases and two points of grammar: the subject pronoun, which is usually left out, and the choice between the familiar and the polite “you”.

The first sentences are learnt as set phrases. Hola (“hello”, “hi”) is said at any time of day, Buenos días in the morning, Buenas tardes in the afternoon; Adiós and Hasta luego are said on leaving. Me llamo followed by a first name gives your name; this reflexive verb, llamarse, is presented in “Reflexive verbs: me llamo, me levanto”. Soy de followed by a place name gives where you are from, with the verb ser (“Ser and estar: the two Spanish verbs for be”). ¿Qué tal? and ¿Cómo estás? ask how the person is, and ¿Y tú? returns the question. Age is said with tener (“to have”), not with a verb meaning “to be”: Tengo veinte años, word for word “I have twenty years”.

Buenas tardes, me llamo Pedro Ruiz.Good afternoon, my name is Pedro Ruiz.
Soy de Toledo, ¿y usted?I'm from Toledo. And you?
¿Cuántos años tiene tu hermana?How old is your sister?
Encantada, Pedro.Pleased to meet you, Pedro. (said by a woman)

Subject pronouns: yo, tú, usted…#

Formation

The subject pronouns are yo (I), tú (you, one person, familiar), él (he), ella (she), usted (you, one person, polite), nosotros, nosotras (we), vosotros, vosotras (you, several people, familiar), ellos, ellas (they) and ustedes (you, several people, polite). The forms in -as refer to a group of women; a group of men or a mixed group takes the masculine form.

Person	Pronoun	ser	hablar
1st singular	yo	soy	hablo
2nd singular	tú	eres	hablas
3rd singular	él, ella, usted	es	habla
1st plural	nosotros, nosotras	somos	hablamos
2nd plural	vosotros, vosotras	sois	habláis
3rd plural	ellos, ellas, ustedes	son	hablan

Él (he) and tú (you) take a written accent, which tells them apart from the article el (the) and the possessive determiner tu (your): él es mi hermano; tu hermano es él.

Use

The ending of the verb shows the person, so the subject pronoun is usually left out: Soy de Lima means “I am from Lima”, Vivimos aquí “We live here”. The pronoun is expressed to contrast two people or to stress one of them (Yo soy profesor, y ella es médica), and to make clear who the subject is when one verb form fits several persons: es can mean “he is”, “she is” or “you are”. Spanish has no subject pronoun for “it”: a thing is never taken up by él or ella as a subject, and the verb stands alone: ¿Y el hotel? — Es grande.

Tú or usted. Tú is used with a friend, a child or a relative, and among young people; usted is used with a person one does not know or owes respect to, and with señor or señora. Usted takes the third person singular, like él and ella: usted es, usted habla, usted vive. Since es can also mean “he is” or “she is”, the pronoun usted is often expressed: ¿Es usted de aquí?

Vosotros or ustedes. In Spain, vosotros is used to several people addressed familiarly, with the second person plural (sois, habláis), and ustedes to several people addressed politely, with the third person plural (son, hablan). In Latin America, and in the Canary Islands and parts of southern Spain, ustedes is used in both cases, and vosotros is not used.

Yo trabajo en un hotel, ¿y tú?I work in a hotel. What about you?
Señora Gómez, ¿usted habla francés?Mrs Gómez, do you speak French?
Chicos, ¿sois de Madrid?Are you from Madrid, guys?
Ella es abogada y él es médico.She is a lawyer and he is a doctor.
Vivimos en Valencia con los abuelos.We live in Valencia with our grandparents.

Difference from English

In English, a statement always has a subject: “am from Lima” is not a sentence. In Spanish, Soy de Lima is the normal form; Yo soy de Lima is not wrong, but the pronoun adds a stress, like “I am from Lima”, and a pronoun put before every verb makes the Spanish sound heavy and insistent. English “it” has no equivalent as a subject: “It is big” is Es grande. English has one “you” for every situation; Spanish has four: tú and usted for one person, vosotros and ustedes for several. The choice is made before the first word, because it changes the verb: “Where do you live?” is ¿Dónde vives? to a friend and ¿Dónde vive usted? to a stranger.

Common mistakes

~~¿Y el hotel? — Él es grande.~~ → ¿Y el hotel? — Es grande.Él refers to a man; a thing is not taken up by a subject pronoun, and the verb stands alone.
~~Señor Gil, ¿eres de Sevilla?~~ → Señor Gil, ¿es usted de Sevilla?A person addressed as señor takes usted and the third person singular; eres is the familiar form.
~~Usted sois muy amable.~~ → Usted es muy amable.Sois is the form of vosotros; usted is conjugated like él and ella.
~~Tu eres de Lima.~~ → Tú eres de Lima.The subject pronoun tú takes a written accent; tu without an accent means “your”.

Remember

Soy, eres, es are enough without a pronoun. The pronoun marks a contrast: Yo soy de Lima, ¿y usted?

In short

Point	Rule	Example
subject pronoun	usually left out	Soy de Lima.
pronoun expressed	contrast, stress, ambiguity	Yo soy profesor, y ella es médica.
“it” as a subject	no pronoun	Es grande.
tú	one person, familiar	¿Eres de aquí?
usted	one person, polite; third person singular	¿Es usted de aquí?
vosotros	several people, familiar (Spain)	¿Sois de aquí?
ustedes	several people, polite; also familiar in Latin America	¿Son ustedes de aquí?
me llamo	“my name is”: reflexive verb	Me llamo Pedro.
age	tener + number + años	Tengo veinte años.

Practise

“Introducing yourself: hola, ser, me llamo”, The subject pronoun: yo, tú, él, ella “Introducing yourself: hola, ser, me llamo”, Informal and polite you: tú, usted, vosotros, ustedes

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