En ella impreso en rostro de un hombre.

Question

I found this interesting. It seems the word "ella" is used like the word "it" in english.

I always thought that there was no word for it in spanish.

Can anyone elaborate on this?

Thank you.

Answer 1

There is no "it" in Spanish, we just have "he" and "she." We don't need an "it" because every noun is either masculine or feminine, therefore a "he" or a "she" if we absolutely need the subject pronoun.

Since Spanish verbs tell you who the subject is by the ending, there is no need (in most cases) to say, "It is a beautiful day." "It" only tells me the subject is third person, singular, and "es" (the conjugated verb) gives me that same information: "Es un día bonito" (we just start with the verb).

When "it" is your direct object pronoun (not the thing doing the action, but the thing having the action done to it: "I gave the ball to Susan" -> "I gave it to Susan"), you have to choose between "lo" and "la," depending on the noun's gender. Because of this, English-speaking students who feel a compulsion to use "it" will try to use "lo/la" as a subject pronoun: "Lo es un día bonito," which makes Spanish teachers want to throw things. So, if you see that done, please know that it is very, very wrong, and the student writing that sentence should be punished.

I hope this answers your question.
Criss.