ellos and personas
is it esas personas or esos personas? and my other question is should i put ellos in front of words like comen because comen means they eat correct? so should i say ellos comen or would the ellos be redundant?
2 Answers
esas personas is correct.
If you are assured that everyone knows what you are talking about during a conversation, you can omit the (ellos) if you would like.
Sometimes it flows better if you have it. You will notice that a lot of the times (yo, tú, él, Ud., ella, nosotros, ellas, ellas, and Uds.) are not used in front of the verb.
I have heard a lot of non-native Spanish speakers who have a decent level of Spanish say that you must omit these items as it would be redundant- it's like their little niche argument. This, however, would be wrong. It depends on the the way you are speaking, flow, and your crowd. Sometimes these items are used to emphasize what is being said. And, in general, you can never go wrong with saying them especially if you are learning and need to get used to them.
In short terms, it just depends on the situation.
Esas personas
Mi esposa es el amor de mi vida. There are some terms that can take el or la, like dentista, and some that do not, like persona or amor, regardless of the sex of the person being talked about. You just have to learn which are which.
In most cases ellos comen will be redundant. I am sure that if I worked hard at it, I could come up with a sentence, maybe involving ustedes and ellos both, that required clarification, but that would not be the normal.
Edit to add:
¿Qué comen Juan y María? Comen manzanas.
¿Qué comen Juan, María y nosotros? Ellos comen manzanas pero ustedes comen naranjas.
I will admit it to be a bit contrived, but I think it serves to demonstrate the point.
