A SPANISH REFERENCE GRAMMAR   SUBJECT PRONOUNS   51

Plural

nosotros, -as, we nos, to us   nos, us

vosotros, -as, you os, to you   os, you

ellos, they   les, to them   los, les, them

ellas, they   les, to them   las, them

ustedes, you   les, to you   los or les, las, you

Reflexive   Prepositional or terminal Singular

me, myself   mi, me

te, thyself, yourself   ti, thee, you

se, himself, itself   el, him, it

se, herself, itself   ella, her, it

se, itself   ello, it

se, yourself   usted, you

si, himself, herself, itself, yourself (after a preposition)

Plural

nos, ourselves   nosotros, -as, us

os, yourselves   vosotros, -as, you

se, themselves   ellos, them

se, themselves   ellas, them

se, yourselves   ustedes, you

si, themselves, yourselves, (after a preposition) 238.

The neuters ello, le and lo have no plural forms.

I. Subject forms.

(a) Ttl and its corresponding case-forms given above, and its corresponding posses-

sive adjectives and pronouns (see 221 and 318) are used in familiar address — to intimate friends, relatives, small children, animals, etc.; also in religious and poetical expressions. It is also used to express superiority of the speaker to the one addressed. Its plural, vosotros, -as, is similarly used; moreover, it is often the mode of address in speaking to an audience. 239.

2. Subject pronouns, except those of the third person, may be omitted when a verb is used, because the verb terminations are usually sufficiently indicative of the person and number of the subject. They may, however, be used in all forms for the sake of emphasis, clearness or euphonic balance of the sentence. Since the third person singular of the verb may have one of four different subjects, and the third person plural may have one of three (see above table), ambiguity is often avoided in the third person by using the proper pronoun. 240.

3. Subject pronouns usually precede the verb, but may follow it for emphasis and usually follow in questions : lo dije yo, I said it; van Vds.? are you going? In the case of compound tenses it is placed in questions after both the auxiliary and past participle:

han visto Vds. eso? have you seen that? In progressive tenses it usually follows the