How To Say ‘They’ in Spanish 4 Completely different Methods
12.8K
The direct translations of “they” are ellos and ellas. However this isn’t the one strategy to say “they” in Spanish. On this information, you’ll see methods to use the widespread topic pronouns ellos/ellas, when you may omit the topic pronoun and let the verb type indicate “they,” and methods to use the impersonal and passive se to imply “they.”
Which choice you select will depend upon the plural noun you’re referring to, whether or not the topic is understood or normal, and the construction and ritual of your sentence. You’ll additionally discover ways to talk in Spanish the singular “they” typically utilized in English.
The topic pronouns ellos/ellas
Each ellos and ellas are Spanish topic pronouns that immediately translate to “they” in English. They’re each plural and may take the place of a plural noun that has been beforehand talked about, serving to to keep away from awkward repetition in a sentence.
- Ayer hablé con mis padres. Ellos van de viaje el mes que viene. = Yesterday I talked with my dad and mom. They‘re happening a visit subsequent month.
Observe that the phrase ellos stands for mis padres within the second sentence.
Ellas is used when the plural noun is completely female. This might confer with a gaggle of ladies and women, or much less usually to a female plural noun. In line with customary Spanish grammatical gender guidelines, ellas shouldn’t be used when the group contains males, boys, or masculine nouns. When you have been referring to a blended group of each masculine and female nouns, you’ll use the masculine plural type.
Different Spanish topic pronouns
Topic pronouns together with “they” in Spanish are important data for learners, as they supply a scaffold for understanding many grammar factors together with methods to conjugate Spanish verbs in all totally different tenses, methods to type possessive adjectives, and extra.
| Spanish Topic Pronoun | English That means | Grammar Options |
| yo | I | singular |
| tú | you | singular, casual |
| usted | you | singular, formal |
| él | he | singular, masculine |
| ella | she | singular, female |
| nosotros | we | plural, masculine or blended group |
| nosotras | we | plural, female |
| vosotros | you | plural, masculine or blended group, casual, solely utilized in Spain |
| vosotras | you | plural, female, casual, solely utilized in Spain |
| ellos | they | plural, masculine or blended group |
| ellas | they | plural, female |
Omitting the topic pronoun of a conjugated verb
Typically, you may omit the topic pronoun the place you would need to use “they” in English. Evaluate these examples:
- Bob y Jodi son mis vecinos. Bob y Jodi son creativos porque Bob y Jodi son artistas. = Bob and Jodi are my neighbors. Bob and Jodi are artistic as a result of Bob and Jodi are artists.
This instance sounds overly repetitive and unnatural. It will be way more widespread to make use of ellos within the follow-up sentence. In truth, you may even omit the topic pronoun altogether because the conjugated verb type son means “they’re” in Spanish.
- Bob y Jodi son mis vecinos. Ellos son creativos porque son artistas. = Bob and Jodi are my neighbors. They’re artistic as a result of they’re artists.
Utilizing the impersonal or passive se
The phrase se is utilized in a couple of constructions the place English audio system would possibly say the phrase “they.”
Often, there is no such thing as a particular topic associated to an announcement, however it expresses a normal, unknown, or unidentified topic. “They” is only one doable translation in English. Others is perhaps “one” or “folks,” or just the English passive voice, equivalent to se usan pronombres (pronouns are used).
- Se come bien en esta ciudad. = They eat properly on this metropolis.
- Se cube que va a nevar. = They are saying it’s going to snow.
- Se venden libros. = They promote books.
- Se habla español. = They converse Spanish.
- Se ofrece un descuento el jueves. = They provide a reduction on Thursdays.
Is there a singular ‘they’ in Spanish?
In customary Spanish, the third-person singular topics are él/ella (he/she). As a result of the verb is conjugated the identical strategy to match both él or ella, it’s pure to omit the pronoun in lots of sentences the place an English singular “they” could be widespread.
- Si alguien olvida su móvil, puede volver mañana. = If somebody forgets their cellphone, they can come again tomorrow.
- Dijo que no está permitido aparcar aquí. = He/she/somebody/they mentioned parking isn’t allowed right here.
As Spanish continues to evolve, elle is used as one various for a non-binary singular human topic. The RAE has acknowledged its use in some linguistic circles for individuals who don’t determine with both gender, but in addition asserts that its use shouldn’t be asentado (established).
Spanish pronouns with double “l” equivalent to ella, ellos, and ellas might be tough for learners at first. Keep away from confusion and pronounce them like a local speaker by double-checking your pronunciation with Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine.
