Omitting Subject Pronouns in Spanish – Lesson 20

What does “omitting subject pronouns” mean?

Today’s yellow lesson isn’t about a new verb, but about something you’ll see in almost every Spanish sentence: omitting subject pronouns.

Sounds complicated? When I first saw that phrase, I had no idea what it meant either. But it’s simple: omitting is just a fancy word for leaving out. So this lesson is about leaving out subject pronouns.

Quick refresher: subject pronouns

In lesson 9 we learned the subject pronouns: the words that tell you who is doing something. Yo (I), tú (you), él / ella (he / she), nosotros (we), and so on.

Then we learned to combine them with verbs, like querer (to want):

In Spanish, you can leave out the pronoun

Here’s the thing: in Spanish, you don’t need the subject pronoun. Instead of yo quiero, you can just say quiero.

Why? Because the verb ending already tells you who it is. Quiero ends in -o, and that ending only goes with yo. So quiero can only mean “I want”.

With pronoun	Without pronoun	English
Yo quiero la pizza.	Quiero la pizza.	I want the pizza.
Tú quieres una pizza.	Quieres una pizza.	You want a pizza.
Ella quiere el café.	Quiere el café.	She wants the coffee.
Nosotros queremos las pizzas.	Queremos las pizzas.	We want the pizzas.

Both columns mean exactly the same thing. And the right column is actually more natural. In Spanish, leaving out the pronoun is very common, and often even expected.

How the verb ending tells you who it is

Let’s zoom in on one example:

We don’t need tú, because quieres already tells us we’re talking about “you”. If it were “I”, it would be quiero. If it were “we”, it would be queremos. So quieres la pizza always means “you want the pizza”.

Same here: queremos can only be “we”, so nosotros isn’t needed.

This works with every verb you’ve learned so far:

When to keep the pronoun

There’s one small problem. Look at this sentence:

Quiere is the form for él, ella and usted. So without the pronoun, it could be “he”, “she” or “you”. Usually that’s no problem: the conversation makes it clear. If you’re pointing at someone and say quiere el sándwich, everyone knows who you mean.

But when it’s not clear, or when you want to stress who it is, you keep the pronoun:

So in short: keep the pronoun when you need it for clarity or emphasis. In all other cases, you can leave it out.

Why English can’t do this

In English, verbs barely change: I want, you want, we want, they want. Without the pronoun, you’d have no idea who’s talking. That’s why English always needs the pronoun.

Spanish verbs change for almost every person (remember the introduction to verbs?). That’s more work to learn, but this is the reward: the verb does the job of the pronoun.

Practice: leave out the pronoun

Say each sentence out loud without the subject pronoun, then click to check.

1. Yo quiero un café.

Quiero un café.

2. Tú tienes la foto.

Tienes la foto.

3. Nosotros somos estudiantes.

Somos estudiantes.

4. Yo estoy aquí.

Estoy aquí.

5. Ellos quieren café.

Quieren café. (if it’s clear you mean “they”)

6. ¿Vosotros estáis listos?

¿Estáis listos?

7. Who does “tengo hambre” talk about?

Yo: the -o ending means “I”. I’m hungry.

8. “Ella quiere el café, pero él no.” Why keep the pronouns here?

To make clear who wants it and who doesn’t: she does, he doesn’t.

Quiz: leaving out subject pronouns

10 questions. Can you tell who’s who without the pronoun?

Frequently asked questions

Is it wrong to use the subject pronoun?

No, it’s never wrong. Yo quiero un café is correct. But if you use the pronoun in every sentence, it sounds a bit heavy, or like you’re stressing “I want a coffee”. Natives usually just say quiero un café.

Do you also leave out “usted”?

Often, yes. But because usted shares its verb form with él and ella, people keep it more often than other pronouns, especially to be polite or clear.

Before you go to the next lesson

That’s it for lesson 20! From now on, in the example sentences of this course, we’ll try to leave out the pronouns more often. Only in the verb lessons will I keep them, because that helps you learn the conjugations. Next up is a very important one: the question words in Spanish. ¡Hasta la próxima!