Help with Pronouns

Question

I'm taking Spanish class and currently have 1 year's worth of Spanish education. We learned the following Subject Pronouns:

Yo Nosotros, -as Tú Vosotros, -as (which we don't use) Él, ella, usted Éllos, ellas, ustedes

I only learned to conjugate with these pronouns but now I know verbs that use Me, Te, etc and I don't know how to use them correctly. I also saw like 3 different sets of pronouns and I'm confused on how to use them. Can someone tell me what the types of pronouns are and how to use them? Thanks!

Answer 1

(Note that in the following discussion I will be using direct object pronouns for example purposes, but much of what will be discussed applies equally to indirect object pronouns--indirect object pronouns being those that indicate to whom and action is directed or applies)

We learned the following Subject Pronouns: Yo, Nosotros, Tú, Vosotros, Él, ella, usted Éllos, ellas, ustedes.

The key word here is "subject." Subject pronouns indicate or refer to who is performing the action described by the verb. Direct object pronouns, on the other hand, indicate who or what the action of the verb is directly affecting In English, for example, we might say "I love you." In this case, the subject pronoun "I" indicates that it is the speaker who is declaring his love and the object pronoun "you" defines the person who is the object of this affection.

In Spanish, a similar sentence might be "Yo te amo." Here, the subject pronoun "yo" demonstrates that it is the speaker (subject) who is declaring his love, and the object pronoun "te" indicates to whom this love is directed.

Now, there is one key difference between Spanish and English that, at first blush, can make the use of pronouns a bit confusing for an English speaker who is attempting to understand these concepts. You see, in Spanish, the verb form (or verb ending) already indicates who is performing the action, or rather, who the subject is, i.e. amo = I love, amas = you love, amamos = we love, etc. In English, however, the verb form does not provide this needed information. Notice for example, how in each of the following examples, the verb form stays the same: (1) I love it, (2) You love it, (3) We love it. Because of this lack of inflectional variation, in English, the subject pronoun is considered "obligate." That is, in declarative sentence, a verb must be preceded by its subject in order to avoid ambiguity. In Spanish, however, the subject pronoun is often omitted. Therefore, unless the subject pronoun is added for emphasis or clarity, the expression "Yo te amo" (I love you) is often uttered as "Te amo" (I love you).

Here are a few more examples (for the sake of clarity, omitted subject pronouns have been included in parenthesis):

• (Yo) No lo tengo — I don't have it.
• (Él) No te cree — He doesn't believe you.
• (Tú) Me cambiaste la vida — You changed my life.
• (Tú) Me das toda la fuerza que necesito — You give me all the strength I need.
• (Ella) Lo conoce — She knows him.
• --¿Tocas (tú) la guitarra? --Sí, la toco — --Do you play the guitar? --Yes, I play it.

One final thought that may be of use: notice that in our examples above, the object pronoun directly precedes the verb. This is another key difference between Spanish and English. Namely, in Spanish, the object pronoun typically precedes the conjugated verb; whereas, in English, the object pronoun always follows the verb.

Answer 2

Lavar-->to wash Lavarse--> to wash oneself ex. Me lavo las manos. --> I wash my hands.

You separate "se" and take it to the front of the verb. and conjugate the both.

se-----> me, te, se,.... lavar-->lavo, lavas, lava,...