A pronoun is a word that is used instead of the name of a person or thing.

Juan - he, him

María - she, her
María and Juan - they, them
etc.

You have already learned one set of pronouns, called the subject pronouns.

yo
tú
él, ella, usted

nosotros/as
vosotros/as

ellos, ellas, ustedes

As the name implies, subject pronouns are the pronouns to use for the subject of the
sentence.

Juan come mucho.

Él come mucho.

Juan y María hablan español.

Ellos hablan español.

When the pronoun acts as the object of a preposition, a different set of pronouns is used.

Subject Pronouns Obj. Prep. Pronouns

yo mí
tú ti
él él
ella ella
usted usted
nosotros/as nosotros/as
vosotros/as vosotros/as
ellos/as ellos/as
ustedes ustedes
Note: Only mí and ti are different from the subject pronouns.

Use this second set of pronouns to replace the noun that comes immediately after a
preposition.

Juan habla de mí.

Juan speaks of me.

Hablo con ellos.

I speak with them.

Pablo compró un anillo para ella.

Pablo bought a ring for her.

Whenever mí follows the preposition con, the two words combine to form conmigo.

¿Por qué no vienes conmigo?

Why don't you come with me?

Whenever ti follows the preposition con, the two words combine to form contigo.

No voy contigo, voy con ellos.

I'm not going with you, I'm going with them.

Whenever you want to say "with him, with her, with you (formal), with them, with you-
all (formal)" there are two possibilities. If the pronoun is referring to the subject of the
sentence, use consigo. If the pronoun does not refer to the subject of the sentence, use
con + the appropriate pronoun.

Pronoun does refer to the subject

He took the pens with him(self).

Él llevó las plumas consigo.

Why don't you take a book with you(rself)?

¿Por qué no lleva un libro consigo?

Pronoun does not refer to the subject

They live with him.
Ellos viven con él.

I don't want to talk to you.

No quiero hablar con usted.

There are six special prepositions that are followed by subject pronouns rather than object
pronouns.

entre
between
excepto
except
incluso
including
menos
except
según
according to
salvo
except

Examples:

Entre tú y yo, esta comida es horrible.

Todos beben agua, incluso yo.
Según tú, la chica es bonita.