PERSONAL PRONOUNS
They are divided into subject and complement:
P.P. SUBJECT are always declared, except in cases in which the coordinated sentences have the same subject or in the case of the imperative
EXAMPLES:
- She loves John and hates me – (She loves John and hates me)
- Go away! -(Go away!)
P.P. COMPLEMENT are used after a verb, as a direct complement, or after a preposition, as indirect complements.
EXAMPLES:
- She hates me – (She hates me)
- She is going to the cinema with him – (She goes to the movies with him)
| Persona | Subject pronouns | Personal pronouns complements | ||
| 1st person singular | I | yo | me | me/conmigo |
| 2nd person singular | you | tú | you | te/contigo |
| 3° person singular | HE | él | him | se/consigo |
| 3° person singular | SHE | ella | her | se/consigo |
| 3° person singular | it | ello | it | se/consigo |
| 1° person plural | we | nosotros/
nosotras |
us | nos |
| 2° person plural | you | vosotros/
vosotras |
you | os |
| 3° person plural | they | ellos/ellas | them | se/los, las, les |
Attention! In English the subject pronoun you is also used for YOU, addressed to people with whom a formal relationship has been established.
Excuse me Mr Jones, are you leaving tomorrow? – (Excuse me Mr. Jones, are you leaving tomorrow?)
Reflexives pronouns
A reflexive pronoun is a special type of pronoun. It is normally used when the object object of a sentence is also the subject. Each personal pronoun (I, you, she, etc.) has its reflective form.
The forms of reflexive pronouns:
| Personal pronoun | Reflexive pronouns |
| I | myself |
| you (singular) | yourself |
| he | himself |
| she | herself |
| it | itself |
| we | ourselves |
| you (plural) | yourselves |
| they | themselves |
When to use a reflexive pronoun
Reflexive pronouns are used in 3 main situations:
| (1) When the subject and the object complement are the same | I hurt myself.
The band call themselves “Dublin Brothers”. He shot himself. |
| (2) As a complement with preposition, which refers to the subject | I bought a present for myself.
She did it by herself. (=sola) That man is talking to himself. |
| (3) When you want to highlight the topic | I’ll do it myself. (Nadie me ayuderá)
They ate all the food themselves. (Nadia más ha comido) |
Relative Pronouns
Main relative pronouns are:
Who: used by people in the subject position:
Hans, who is an architect, lives in Berlin.
Whom: used by people in object position:
Marike, whom Hans knows well, is an interior decorator.
Which: used by things and animals in position of subject or object:
Marike has a dog which follows her everywhere.
That: used by people, animals and things, in the position of subject or object:
Marike is decorating a house that Hans designed.
Whose: used by people, animals and thing with the meaning of possession:
Marike is decorating a house whose owner is American.
There are two main types of relative propositions:
1 Non-restrictive propositions (accidental, that is, between commas): they give extra information about the noun, but they are not important.
The desk in the corner, which is covered in books, is mine.
We do not need this information to understand the phrase.
“The desk in the corner is mine” is a good phrase by itself – we already know which desk we refer to. Note that relative non-restrictive propositions are accidental, that is, between commas, and that * is not normally used in this type of context.
2 Restrictive propositions (non-accidental, that is, not between commas): give essential information about the noun
The package that arrived this morning is on the desk.
(We need this information to understand the phrase, without which we do not know which package we are not referring to.) Note that it is used a lot in restrictive relative prepositions, which are not accidental, that is, not separated by commas and never used. As an indirect complement, that is, together with the preposition).
