Romance Languages Vocabulary: Personal Pronouns

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1. The subject pronouns are required with verbs in French since many conjugations are pronounced the same, but they are not required in Italian, Spanish or Portuguese. In all four languages, the masculine plural is used to refer to a group of nouns of both genders (i.e. when they refers to a group of men and women.)
   
   
2. In French, je is reduced to j' before a verb beginning with a vowel or h. In familiar language, tu is reduced to t' in the same situations.
   
   
3. The singular formal you in French (vous) uses the conjugation identical to the plural you form, whereas in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, singular formal you uses the third person singular conjugation identical to the he / she / it form and plural formal you uses the third person plural conjugation indentical to the they form.
   
   
4. French often uses the subject pronoun on in place of nous to mean we, they, the people, etc. but it uses the third person singular verb conjugation instead of the plural form. The corresponding stressed pronoun is soi. On is also the indefinite pronoun corresponding to one in English.
   
   
5. Some antiquated subject pronouns in Italian that you may come across in literature include Egli instead of Lei for singular formal you; egli and ella instead of lui and lei for he and she; esso and essa instead of lui and lei for it (m / f), and esse and essi instead of loro for they (m / f) when referring to things and not people. Esso / essa / esse / essi can also be used as stressed pronouns when referring to things.
   
   
6. The other singular familiar you in Spanish, vos, is used in several Latin America countries, but not in Spain. In some countries, vos replaces tú, and in other countries, both pronouns are used. See the article on voseo at Wikipedia for more information.
   
   
7. The plural familiar you in Spanish (vosotros) is used in most parts of Spain, but not in Latin America, where it is replaced by ustedes.
   
   
8. There is another subject/stressed pronoun in Spanish (ello) meaning it, with a corresponding neuter definite article lo, which changes an adjective into a noun. For example, lo útil - what is useful, lo bueno - what is good.
   
   
9. Most varieties of Brazilian Portuguese do not use tu or vós as subject pronouns, but instead just use the third person pronouns and conjugations (você and vocês for singular and plural familiar and o senhor / a senhora and os senhores / as senhoras for singular and plural formal). Tu can be familiar in some parts of Brazil, especially in the south, with the verb conjugated in the third person singular in colloquial language, though the familiar plural is always vocês. Tu is familiar and você is semiformal in Portugal, with vós considered very formal and rarely used nowadays. European Portuguese can drop subject pronouns since the second or third person conjugation will indicate whether you is formal or familiar, but Brazilian Portuguese tends to use the pronouns to avoid ambiguity since only the third person conjugation is used. In colloquial Brazilian Portuguese, você and vocês can also be reduced to cê and cês.
   
   
10. In Portuguese, a gente is often used to replace nós to mean we in familiar language, but it uses the third person singular verb conjugation instead of the plural form. A gente, of course, also means people.
    
    
11. In both Spanish and Portuguese, the direct object pronouns for you (singular, formal) and you (plural, formal) are also divided into masculine and feminine. They are identical to the third person forms.