Nominative forms of Spanish pronouns function as thesubject of a sentence. However, because Spanish verb conjugation implies the subject pronoun, these forms are seldom used except in cases where the subject pronoun is given emphasis.

• Subject implied by verb:

  Soy de España. — “I am from Spain.”

• Subject given for emphasis:

  Él es de Portugal, peroyo soy de España. — “He is from Portugal, butI am from Spain.”

Nominative forms of pronouns precede the verb in most situations, but when asking questions or giving commands, the pronoun follows the verb.

• Statement; pronoun precedes verb:

  Ella está en casa. “She is at home.”

• Question; pronoun follows verb:

  ¿Dónde estáella? — “Where isshe?”

Most personal pronouns compound with the prepositioncon, but the meaning varies with grammatical person. Such first and second person compounds are objective only (e.g.conmigo(“with me”)), but third person compounds may function either as an objective or reflexive form, e.g.consigo(“with him/her; with himself/herself”).

In the past, there were also compound forms fornosotros (connosco) andvosotros (convusco). These forms have dropped out of usage and are considered archaic or obsolete.

The second person formal pronoun is usuallyusted, but the in older forms of the language,vusted (and its pluralvustedes) were used. The archaic forms are confined mostly to period works now though they also appear in Spanish translations of the Bible.Vuestramerced(“your grace”) andvuestrasmercedes(“your graces”) are the origin ofusted,usarcé and similar forms that are conjugated in the third person to address the second one.

The variantvusted/vustedes is mostly a regionalism of some South American countries. It is common to hear it in isolated areas of Colombia or Venezuela. It is archaic for other speakers of the language because it is an older form of the diminutive forvuestra merced. However, the abbreviationsVd. andVds. are still used in all Spanish-speaking areas for the singular and plural form respectively. In Colombia, it is not rare to hear people usesumerced(“your grace”) forusted orvusted. It is used interchangeably by most users, however. It can be used to replace a person’s name as well. When speaking to an older man named Miguel, one could say, “Su merced, ¿por qué no viene vusted y sus nietos a mi casa esta tarde?” (“Your grace, why don't you and your grandchildren come to my house this afternoon?”)

In Spain,tú is increasingly used in neutral situations, reservingusted for a more formal register. In Latin America,usted (or its variants) is the normal polite form, andtú is reserved for family and friends.

Theustedes second-person plural form is the formal plural form of address in Spain but is also commonly used in Latin American countries, wherevosotros is considered archaic, and it is neither formal nor informal.

The pronounvosotros is absent in Latin America (the pronounustedes being used instead) except among some speakers of Ladino in countries like Venezuela, Curaçao, Cuba, Mexico, or Argentina. It is still used as the second-person familiar plural for most people in Spain and is the only form used by Sephardic Jews who speak Ladino.

The termvoseo refers to use of the pronounvos, which has both an archaic usage in mainstream Spanish as well as a modern usage that is quite different from the archaic one. In Old Spanish,vos was used to address superiors of noble standing and to address God. It has long since dropped out of the spoken Spanish language though it occasionally appears in poetic literature.

Today, the wordvos is as an informal personal pronoun in Latin America, particularly in Central America, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, the state of Zulia in Venezuela, and some Andean regions. There, it can be used with the same treatment thattú is used (informal and intimate) or in some areas, it is employed among equals but not to very close people (couples or family) or to “inferiors” (children, animals, etc.) to whom the pronountú would normally be used.

Ladino speakers usevos as well but employ it with the same treatment asusted is used. In fact, Ladino speakers do not useusted at all becausevos implies the same respect that it once had in Old Spanish. In Ladino,tú is used towards anyone informally.

Possessive pronouns are a special class of personal pronouns which indicate a relationship of ownership or possession. However, they may serve as either as a pronoun or as an adjective.

The full forms of the possessive pronouns may function either as pronouns or as adjectives. Full forms always follow the associated noun or appear following the verb. Short forms of the possessive pronouns are functional adjectives. They must precede the noun with which they are associated.

• Full form functioning as pronoun:

  El libro esmío. — “The book ismine.”

  Tu padre es mayor que elmío. — “Your father is older thanmine.”

• Full form functioning as adjective:

  Necesito el libromío. — “I need the bookof mine.” -or- “I needmy book.”

• Short form functioning as adjective:

  Necesitomi libro. — “I needmy book.”

The demonstratives are another class of pronoun that have both pronomial and adjectival functions. The two functions are traditionally distinguished by the presence or absence of accents. Accented forms (and the neuter forms) always function as pronouns. However, since the 1960s, forms without accents may function either as adjectives or as pronouns.

According to a decision from the 1960s of theReal Academia (which governs the academic use of Spanish), the accents on demonstrative pronomials (pronoun forms) are only to be used when necessary to avoid ambiguity with the demonstrative determiners (adjectival forms). However, the normal educated standard is still to use the accents on pronomials in all cases. Foreign learners may safely adhere to either standard.

• Accented form functioning as pronoun:

  Éstos son caballos. — “These are horses.”

  Ése es mío. — “That one is mine.”

• Unaccented form functioning as adjective:

  Estas llamas son peruanas. — “These llamas are Peruvian.”

  Esa llama está enferma. — “That llama is sick.”

  Aquellos nubarrones parecen siniestros. — “Those storm clouds look ominous.”

Note that there is never an accent on the neuter formsesto,eso, andaquello. The neuter forms have no determiner equivalents because there are no neuter nouns in Spanish. The neuter forms are a remnant from Latin, which had three genders of noun. As a result, no accents are necessary to distinguish these forms.

• Spanish pronouns on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Pronoun appendices
• Spanish appendices