Spanish pronouns: basic rules

The function of pronouns in Spanish is no different from the role they play in Russian: they indicate a certain object, its sign or quantity, without naming them. From this point of view, linguistics classifies pronouns (pronombres) into some classes, among which personal, possessive, indicative and negative are distinguished. It is the similarity in the definition of this part of speech that sometimes becomes a serious difficulty for those who begin to learn Spanish. Pronombres españoles in their functions and scope are significantly different from their Russian counterparts.

Personal pronouns

With their help, both the subject and the object of the action are marked in the sentence. Within this class, categories of persons for singular and plural and gender are distinguished (with the exception of the pronouns yo and tú). In a sentence, personal pronouns can act both as a subject (subject) and an object, that is, controlled by a verb as a direct (complemento directo) or indirect (completo indirecto) addition.

Joined by the Spanish verb in conjugation, the endings allow you to clearly identify the speaker's face, so the use of personal pronouns with it is not necessary. However, in Spanish, emphatic, that is, semantic highlighting, is common. In this case, the use of a personal pronoun in the verb is allowed, for example:

Hablé con mi madre - I talked to my mother.

Yo hablé con mi madre - I (it was I, not you) who talked to my mother.

Personal pronouns in the function of direct and indirect complement

In Spanish, the declension of pronouns, as well as other parts of speech, has been greatly simplified in comparison with the Latin paradigm. A personal pronoun can appear in a sentence as a direct complement in a transitive verb and as an indirect one in an intransitive. In both cases, depending on the speaker’s goals, one of two semantically equal options can be used: stressed and not stressed. If the unstressed form of the Spanish direct complement corresponds to the Russian accusative case, and the indirect one to the dative one, without requiring an excuse, then the stressed, in combination with prepositions, can be translated into Russian by any case except nominative.

The original forms are used as the stressed form of the personal pronoun in the function of direct or indirect complement. Exceptions are the pronouns yo and tú, which take the form mi, ti, respectively. With the preposition con, these pronouns form the forms conmigo, contigo.

The pronoun position in the sentence

The unstressed form of the personal pronoun precedes the predicate expressed by the verb in the personal form (all tenses of the indicative, subjunctive and conditional moods, as well as the negative variant of the imperative mood): te digo, me decía, lo encontré, no le escribas - I tell you, he told me I met him, do not write to her. If the verb appears in non-personal form (infinitive or gerund), the pronoun adjoins it without changing the stress (tengo que buscarla, estoy leyéndolo, hazlo - I have to find it, I read it, do it). In the case when both types of additions are used within the same phrase, the direct follows the indirect: te lo dijo - "he told you that." The forms le, les before any direct complement expressed by a pronoun are replaced by se: se lo dije - "I told him that."

Since it is not always possible to understand who is involved in the unstressed form, it is possible to simultaneously use both options in one sentence: se lo di a mi madre - "I gave it to my mother." ¹ Such duplication of pronouns in the Spanish language is very common and is a known difficulty for beginners.

Possessive adjectives

Possessive pronouns express the idea of ​​owning, possessing something. In a sentence, they can appear both in the meaning of adjectives and nouns. Forms of both types are formed taking into account two categories: the number of the person owning something and the number (in the first and second persons of the plural, the gender is also allocated) of objects of ownership.

As can be seen from the table, in the Spanish language the possessive pronoun su is closed on the 3rd person, in contrast to the Russian pronoun "own." This must be taken into account when translating phrases such as:

• I eat my breakfast. - Como mi desayuno.
• You eat your breakfast - Comes ti desayuno.
• He is eating his breakfast. - Come su desayuno.

In addition, the meaning of the possessive pronoun su can be clarified using the construction of the preposition de and the necessary personal pronoun: su desayuno de ella.

Possessive Nouns

They are used in the case when the object of belonging has already been named before, completely replacing it. For this reason, the possessive pronoun-noun is used with a definite article. The exception is sentences in which the predicate is expressed by the verb ser. Sometimes, for stylistic purposes, the possessive pronoun-noun can act as an adjective in the postposition to the noun expressing the object of belonging, consistent with it, but native speakers perceive such phrases as archaic.

Possessive nouns, meaning one object of possession, used with the article lo, express abstract concepts:

Juana podrá disponer de lo suyo - Juana can control what belongs to her. ²

Demonstrative Pronouns

The Russian language is characterized by the separation of two degrees of proximity of an object or a time interval: they can be located either close or far. The Spaniards in their speech distinguish a third, intermediate degree - the subject may be closer to the listener than to the speaker. Therefore, in Spanish, demonstrative pronouns have three forms.

These pronouns are consistent with the nouns they define and replace the article: este libro, esa lata, aquellos ordenadores - this book, this jar, those computers.

In comparative terms, demonstrative pronouns can completely replace a noun. In such cases, a graphic stress sign appears above it:

Esta revista no es tan interasante como aquéllas. - This magazine is not as interesting as those.

In the Spanish language there are no nominal parts of speech of the middle gender, however, demonstrative pronouns esto, eso, aquello are used to indicate abstract concepts. In addition, with the help of these forms you can replace whole phrases according to the model: esto va mejor - this is better. ³

Negative pronouns

In Spanish, there are three negative pronouns : implying the nouns nadie - nobody, nada - nothing and acting as an adjective ninguno (-a, -os, -as) - no (s). When constructing a phrase, the rule prohibits double negation: when such a pronoun in a sentence is before the verb, additional negation in the form of particle no does not apply:

Nada me interesa. “Nothing interests me.”

But: Ahora no me interesa nada. “Now nothing interests me.”

It must be borne in mind that in the singular the pronoun ninguno in front of the masculine noun takes the truncated form of ningún:

No es ningún héroe. “He is not a hero.” ⁴