Pronouns in the Spanish language

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The pronoun, pronombre , is used as a part of speech in Spanish grammar , just like in German . It is one of the nominal words with the grammatical features of person, gender, number and case and, according to the traditional description, can represent a noun (or actually a noun phrase , sintagma nominal ) or accompany a noun. For the other properties of the part of speech pronouns in general, see the article Pronouns .

In Spanish, the pronouns have complex grammatical features, of which the most complex group is again that of the personal pronouns, pronombres personales . In contrast to the Spanish noun, the Spanish personal pronouns have case forms ( nominative , genitive (or possessor ), dative (or indirect object ) or accusative (or direct object )). Spanish also distinguishes between the nominative genera, género gramatical masculine, masculino and feminine, femenino ; for special uses, a neuter, neutro, is added. A distinction is also made between singular and plural . The other types of pronouns have easier distinctions. In total, there are eight different types of pronouns in Spanish, these are:

Personal pronouns

overview

The Spanish personal pronouns, pronombres personales, comprise two series of forms known as stressed, pronombres tónicos and unstressed (i.e. clitic ) pronouns, pronombres atónicos or clíticos . The stressed pronouns behave in syntactical terms similar to definite noun phrases or proper names . They can stand separately from the verb and can also be modified with various additions. The unstressed pronouns are connected to a verb (see below for more on this).

In contrast to the nouns in Spanish, pronouns develop different forms for use as a subject, object or addition to a preposition. In addition to the first, second and third person in singular and plural, a distinction is also made between special forms of politeness (singular and plural) that behave as a subject like a third person (when matching the verb). Gender distinctions are masculine, feminine and, in a few cases, neuter. The masculine / feminine contrast is expressed in all third persons except for the clitics for the indirect object; Unlike in German, a distinction is made between masculine and feminine forms in the first and second person plural of the pronouns that are emphasized. The following table initially gives an overview (see also the additional explanations below. The reflexive pronouns, which are dealt with separately in the next section, are not included here):

Person, gender, number Stressed forms, pronombres tónicos Unstressed forms, pronombres átonicos
as a subject after prepositions as a direct object ( accusative ) as an indirect object ( dative )
1st person Sg. I / me / me yo mí me
2nd person Sg. You / you / you tú / vos ti te
3rd person Sg.Mask. he / him / him él lo, le reading)
3rd person Sg. Fem. she / her ella la
3rd person Sg. Form of courtesy you / you usted lo, la, le
1st person Pl. Mask. we us nosotros nos
1st person Pl. Fem. we us nosotras
2nd person Pl. Mask. you / you vosotros os
2nd person Pl. Fem. you / you vosotras
3rd person Pl. Mask. they / them ellos go, les les (se)
3rd person Pl. Fem. they / them ellas read
3rd person Pl. Form of courtesy you / you ustedes los, las, les
additions
  • In addition, the pronoun ello exists as a remainder of a neuter . It only stands for abstract facts and is in retreat in the spoken language. It can be used as a subject, dative object and after prepositions, and also as a direct object in the addition todo ello (“all of that”). Ello is very often replaced by the demonstrativa eso or esto (see below). - Examples:
Nuestra calle ya no es segura y ello nos inquieta. - "Our road is no longer safe and that worries us."
No saben idiomas y hasta se enorgullecen de ello . - “They don't speak any foreign languages ​​and are even proud of them . "
  • For the gender-marked plural forms los / las, nosotros / nosotras etc., the following generally applies: The masculine form is used as soon as there is at least one male individual in the group of people, the feminine plural form when there are only female individuals in the group of people.
  • The forms of pronouns after prepositions do not apply to the preposition con (“with”) - for these special forms see below under Pronouns after prepositions .

To use the salutation pronouns

The use of the pronoun vos (historically "you") as a salutation in the singular instead of tú ("you") is typical of Spanish in some non-European countries; this phenomenon is called Voseo .

The salutation ustedes , used in Spain exclusively as a form of courtesy in formal dealings (cf. “Siezen” in German), is the standard language and generally widespread form of address in Latin America, regardless of language level or familiarity. The 2nd person plural is not used at all in the American-speaking world and is always replaced by the address in the 3rd person. Instead of the personal pronoun vosotros , however , ustedes is always used (one of the few rules that apply universally to all of Latin America). Also in the singular, the salutation in the 2nd person with tú is less common in some areas (or seems harsh or pedantic) and one uses either vos (corresponds to the German historical politeness form "Ihr") or the 3rd person with usted .

For the use of unstressed pronouns in connection with a salutation, see below under the keyword leismo .

Subject pronouns

Spanish is a so-called pro-drop language d. H. Pronouns in the subject position , pronombres usados ​​como sujetos , can be omitted if they are not to be emphasized, since the verb form already contains the same features as a personal pronoun. From this it follows that only stressed forms exist as subject pronouns; the alternative is the complete omission (whereas with objects the unstressed pronoun is available as an alternative because a complete omission is not provided here). The same stressed forms appear when the pronoun is used free-standing.

Examples:

  • Él es literato y ella es actriz. - " He is a writer and she is an actress."
  • Nosotros caminaremos pronto. Tu hermano, no. - “ We'll go quickly. Your brother (but) not. "
  • ¿Quién escribió este tema estúpido? - ¡Yo! - “Who wrote this stupid topic? - I! "

Pronouns after prepositions

The independent, stressed pronouns are used after prepositions ( pronombres término de preposición ); However, the preposition con merges with the pronouns to create their own combined forms (also with the reflexive, see there):

con + mí → conmigo
con + tí → contigo

Examples:

  • Ni contigo ni sin ti. - "Neither with you nor without you." (Merged form with con , separate form after other prepositions such as sin "without")

The absence of object forms for stressed pronouns in the table is explained by the fact that animate beings must be introduced as a direct or indirect object from the preposition a (for more on this see case system (Spanish) ). Hence the object forms in this case are always prepositional forms. If this construction a + prepositional case is used, the corresponding connected forms must also be used (this phenomenon of clitic doubling is discussed in more detail below).

Examples:

  • Primero me miró a mí. - "First she looked at me ." (With doubling of the object pronoun with an additional me).
  • A ella no le han subido nunca el sueldo. - " Her salary has never been increased."
Compare:
No le han subido nunca el sueldo. - "Her salary has never been increased." (Without emphasis on her )

The unstressed object pronouns

As mentioned, stressed pronominal objects come after the preposition a , provided they denote animate beings. A stressed object pronoun of the neuter is also ello (see overview above ). The grammar of the unstressed object pronouns, pronombres personal atónicos o clíticos , on the other hand, requires detailed explanations.

Weak, d. H. clitic pronouns are the forms me, te, lo, le, la and their respective plural forms. They are only used coupled to a verb form and are used there to represent people or things. The third person forms almost always refer to something mentioned in the context. - example:

  • Un lobo gris olió la carne y la comió. - “A gray wolf smelled the meat and ate it. "

Here the pronoun la before comió is used to resume the reference to the previous expression la carne (“the meat”). The relation of the pronouns of the first and second person ( me, te ), on the other hand, results from the speaking situation.

The pronouns lo / la (singular) or los / las (plural) are usually used as direct objects . - Examples:

  • Feminine, género femenino :
Carlos come manzanas - "Carlos eats apples."
Carlos read come. - “Carlos eats them. "
  • Masculine, género masculino:
Carlos come melocotónes. - "Carlos eats peaches."
Carlos los come. - “Carlos eats them. "
  • For abstract facts lo , género neutro stands :
No lo he visto. - "I did it not seen."

The indirect object (in the case terminology dative) is le / les (unless several unstressed pronouns come together, see below)

  • Carlos llevó manzanas a su madre. "Carlos brought apples to his mother."
pronominalized: Le llevó manzanas. - "He brought her apples."

Variants - Leísmo, laísmo

Leísmo is the name given to the use of the indirect object ( dative forms in case terminology ) le and les instead of the direct object (accusative forms in case terminology ) lo or los . This phenomenon occurs mainly in European Spanish and when referring to people, and represents an upscale style. - Examples:

  • La Reina le abrazó. - "The queen hugged him ."
  • La Reina les abrazó. - "The queen hugged her ."

In many places le and les are regarded as the actual connected pronouns in the direct object (accusative) for the forms of address usted and ustedes . - example:

  • Le acompaño, señor López. - "I will accompany you , Mr. López."
  • Les acompaño, señores. - "I will accompany you , gentlemen."

Laísmo is the name given to the use of the accusative forms la and read instead of the dative forms le or les when referring to female persons. - Examples:

  • Su padre la regaló un rímel. - "Her father gave her a mascara"
  • Su padre las regaló un rímel. - "Your father gave you a mascara."

Laísmo also occurs predominantly in European Spanish, but in contrast to Leísmo it has a rather low prestige.

Object pronoun syntax

Position before or after the verb

In a sentence with a simple finite verb as a predicate, the unstressed object pronouns are placed directly in front of the finite verb form (“proklitic”). No adverb or other material can be inserted between pronoun and verb, the negation ( no ) also comes before the complex of object pronoun and verb:

  • No me gusta tu coche. - "I do n't like your car ."

In clauses that consist of an infinite verb form, there is an object pronoun behind the infinite verb form (“enclitic”); it is then written together with the verb:

  • ... tomando lo como un desafío staff. - ... "by taking it as a personal challenge." (Tomando-lo = taking-3sg.mask.obj, the form tomando is a gerundio )
  • Hay que buscar la y dar le la noticia. - "It is necessary to seek and you give the message." ( Infinitive after the impersonal construction hay que )

Likewise, the unstressed pronoun follows an imperative unless it is negated:

  • Búsquesemelo. - "Find it for me ." (Busquese-me-lo = sucht.imp-1.sg.obj-3.sg.obj)
  • but: No te preocupes. - "Do not worry!"

The addition of a clitic pronoun does not change the stress on the verb. Due to the fact that the connections are spelled together, it may be necessary to emphasize the following : poor “look at me”; intentándolo “trying”; cómpramelo “buy it for me”.

Clitic raising

Juan lo quiso comprar.
Juan quiso comprar lo .

In compound predicates of a finite and an infinite verb, there are two possible positions for the clitic pronouns, pronombres enclíticos : either after the infinite verb, or before the finite verb of the construction. This mainly concerns constructions with auxiliary verbs and with modal verbs . Examples:

  • Estábamos preparándonos. - "We were about to prepare." (Hilfsverb estar )
or: Nos estábamos preparando.
  • Puedes venderlo en la librería de ocasión. - "You can sell it in a modern antique shop."
or: Lo puedes vender en la librería de ocasión.

Here the object pronoun lo is a complement to vender ("sell"). In contrast, the position before the modal verb puedes (“you can”) is a shift to a finite verb that does not require this object. One speaks therefore of an “elevation” of the clitic pronoun ( ascenso del clítico ); the two verbs are treated as if they together form a single finite verb. This process is optional. In a transformation grammar , the difference can be represented by moving the pronoun (see the tree diagram opposite; this analysis is, however, controversial):

  • Juan quiso comprar lo. - "Juan wanted to buy it."
or : Juan lo quiso comprar.

Order with several clitics

If two personal pronouns come together in a verb, the following applies first: indirect object (which is usually animate) before direct object:

  • (Yo) te lo digo - "I'll tell you".

If two personal pronouns of the third person come together in a verb, then the dative pronoun (indirect object) le, les uniformly becomes the form se (identical in form to the unstressed reflexive, see below). Examples:

  • Les da el coche. (“He gives them the car”) becomes Se lo da when the object is replaced and by no means * Les lo da.
  • ¿Conoce Vd. a mi amiga? - "Do you know my girlfriend?"
Se la presento. - "I'll introduce them to you " (by no means * Le la presento. )
  • Se lo voy a decir. - "I am going to you to say."
  • Esto no se lo he dicho yo. - "I didn't tell you that."

This rule of order also applies when pronouns are appended after the infinitive , gerund or affirmative imperative:

  • Voy a decir selo . - "I am about to tell you."

The form se can of course also (regularly) stand for the unstressed reflexive pronoun. This se comes before all other pronouns, including datives. The following example shows this for the verb caerse , “to fall”, which is an inherently reflexive verb (that is, carries a reflexive that is not translated in German). This appears before the dative te :

  • Se te cae la taza. - "(refl.) The cup falls down."

Including the other pronouns, the order is as follows:

  • se + 2nd person (singular / plural) object pronoun + 1st person (singular / plural) object pronoun + 3rd person (singular / plural) object pronoun + object. - So:
 se + te/os + me/nos + lo/la/los/las/le/les
  • This can be summarized as follows:
“Se” is at the top, before all other unstressed object pronouns;
all pronouns beginning with the letter “l” come last;
"Te" and "os" always before "me" and "nos";

Clitic doubling, duplicación clítica

In Spanish, there are often constructions in which a clitic pronoun appears in the verb at the same time as a corresponding full clause in the object. In the specialist literature this is often referred to with the English expression clitic doubling , Spanish duplicación clítica (clitic doubling).

An indirect object that is introduced with a can therefore appear at the same time with the dative clitic on the verb:

  • Le di un regalo a mi madre . - "I gave my mother a present" (the additional le at the beginning of the sentence refers to "my mother" and is redundant)
  • A mis invitados siempre les ofrezco café. - "I always offer my guests coffee." (The indirect object is in front and is doubled by les )

With direct object:

  • Lo vi a tu papá en la tienda. - “I saw your father in the shop.” ( Lo double “your papa”).

The doubling also occurs if there is a stressed pronoun in the object position:

  • Ese regalo se lo di a él . - “I gave him the gift” ( se as a dative clitic doubles the object a él (“him”), at the same time lo also the direct object ese regalo (“this gift”)).
  • A mi no me han invitado. - " They didn't invite me ."

The clitic doubling is grammatically obligatory in two cases: First, the stressed forms of the personal pronoun can never stand alone as an object and must be doubled at the verb. Second, when placing an object at the beginning of a sentence, it must be doubled with a clitic on the verb. The examples above, Ese regalo se lo di a él and A mi no me han invitado, cannot have any other form. In contrast, in the sentence Lo vi a tu papá, doubling is not compulsory, so Vi a tu papá would also be grammatically possible .

reflexive pronouns

to form

Just like the personal pronoun, the Spanish reflexive pronoun , pronombre reflexivo, has unstressed (clitic) and stressed forms. The reflexive only has its own forms, which distinguish it from the personal pronoun, in the 3rd person (including the polite form) and is continuously se there . The stressed form that occurs after prepositions is sí . The following equations result when other expressions are used again:

  • yo (me): me
  • tú / vos (you): te
  • el / ella / usted (he / she / she): se
  • nosotros / nosotras (we): nos
  • vosotros / vosotras (her): os
  • ellos / ellas / ustedes (they, you): se

Examples of stressed reflexiva after preposition:

  • Lo dijo a sí mismo. - "He said it to be himself."
  • el problema en sí - "the problem itself"

As with the personal pronoun, the preposition con ("with") creates a fused special form:

con + sí → consigo

The distinction between whether the reflexive pronoun is a direct or indirect object is not marked. - Examples:

  • Me ducho por las mañanas. - "I shower myself in the morning."
  • Me ducho los pelos. - "I shower my hair."

use

The main function of a reflexive (in the place of the object) is to indicate that the subject and object of the sentence refer to the same individual. Reflexive pronouns occur in Spanish as well as in German, but also as an integral part of certain verbs. In the citation form of these reflexive verbs , the infinitive with the ending -se is used. An example of a reflexive verb is hablarse: to be able to speak (to hablar: to speak):

  • (Yo) hablo español. - "I speak spanish"
  • (Yo) me hablo español. - "'I can speak Spanish."

The syntactic properties of the reflexive pronouns correspond to what has already been said about personal pronouns:

  • El paciente no se quiere lavar. - "The patient does not want to wash." (Position of the clitic se before the finite verb; clitic elevation instead of lavarse )
  • ¡Tranquilízate, chico! - "Stay calm, boy," (enclitic reflexive te the imperative)

Another function of the reflexive is to express an indefinite subject. Thus, this use of se conveys a meaning like in German sentences with “man” (the generalized personal pronoun ). This use is also transformed into the function of a passive (for details, see Passive (Spanish) ). - Examples:

  • ¿ Cómo se dice eso en español? - "How do you say that in Spanish?"
  • ¿Dónde se paga? - "Where do you pay?"
  • Ahora se comprende que actúen así - "Now we understand why they act like that"
  • Así no se educa a nadie - "This is not how you educate a person"

However, even in this function, se is not grammatically a subject (different from “man” in German). The sentences are more like a passive because the part of the sentence that would normally be an object controls the alignment of the verb form and thus behaves like a subject:

  • Así se evitan accidentes - "How to prevent accidents" (verb form evitan is plural, in accordance with accidentes )
  • Son dos sucesos que no se pueden comparar - "There are two events that cannot be compared"

Generalizing pronouns

In addition to the impersonal se described above, uno and una are also used as generalizing personal pronouns (also called “indefinite pronouns”, but strictly speaking to be distinguished from indefinite pronouns). The special meaning of uno / una is the self-involvement of the speaker. - Examples:

  • Uno se siente estafado - "You feel cheated"
  • ¿Pierde una derechos cuando es madre? - "Do you lose rights when you become a mother?"

The third person plural of the verb (but without the corresponding stressed pronoun ellos ) is used when it comes to the actions of indefinite groups or the individual act of an unknown person. With this variant of an indefinite subject, the speaker excludes himself as an agent. - Examples:

  • Dicen que viajar ilustra - "They say travel educates." (Literally, for example: "They say ...")
  • Tocaron el timbre - "It rang." (Literally, for example: "They struck the bell.")
  • Cuando mataron a Lennon, yo no había nacido - "When Lennon was killed / when Lennon was killed, I was not yet born."

The second person singular can also be used with a similar meaning (but in a more familiar way of speaking). - example:

  • Si protestabas, te echaban a la calle - "If you protested, they put you on the street." (Also possible in German, impersonally)

Demonstrative pronouns

The demonstrative pronoun , pronombre demostrativo , expresses a pointing action (thus has a deictic meaning that can also be transferred to non-spatial areas and text functions). A distinction is made between the distance between the shown object and the speaker and listener.

Grammatically, demonstrative pronouns belong to the third person and their gender and number (Spanish does not know case endings of the noun) are based on the noun they accompany or represent. The following table clarifies the types of meaning of the demonstratives by including the corresponding adverbs aquí , ahí and allí :.

Distances to the speaker Short (near the speaker) Medium (near the listener) Long (removed from both)
Masculine singular este ese aquel
Feminine singular esta esa aquella
Masculine plural estos esos aquellos
Feminine plural estas esas aquellas
neuter esto eso aquello
Position of person / object (adverb) aquí / acá ahí allí

Remarks
  • If the demonstratives are used free-standing (i.e. as pronouns), they have an accent; as a companion to a noun they have no accent. - Examples:
Leyeron aquellos libros. - "You read these books there."
but: Leyeron aquéllos libros. - "You there, read books."
  • The forms of the neuter esto, eso, aquello are only used as pronouns and have no accent.

possessive pronouns

With the possessive pronoun, pronombre posesivo , one determines an owner or a more general type of belonging to a reference object. In Spanish, a distinction is made between the unstressed, weak possessive pronouns, pronombres posesivos átonos o antepuestos o prenominales , from the stressed, strong pronouns, pronombres posesivos tónicos o posnominales o pospuestos .

The possessive pronoun must match the noun to which it refers in person, gender and number. That is, the masculine / feminine forms in the table below indicate the gender of this reference word; on the other hand, the gender of the owner, which is marked by his / her German contrast , is not differentiated.

While the unstressed forms always come before a noun, there are two uses for the stressed forms. On the one hand, this is the form in which the possessives are free, i.e. substantiated, for example:

  • Este it mi coche. - "This is my car" (unstressed mi )
but: El coche es mío - "The car is mine / The car is mine."

On the other hand, the stressed possessives can also be attributive, i.e. like the unstressed indicate an owner as a companion to a noun. In this function, however, they come after the noun. Especially in constructions with a preposition, the two variants appear relatively interchangeable. Example:

  • en mi presencia / en presencia mía - "in my presence"
Owner ↓ Stressed forms, pronombres tónicos Unstressed forms, pronombres átonicos
Reference noun mask. (Pl.) Reference noun fem. (Pl.) Reference noun mask. (Pl.) Reference noun fem. (Pl.)
1st person Sg. My- mío (s) mía (s) mi (s)
2nd person Sg. Your- tuyo (s) tuya (s) do (s)
3rd person Sg. His- / her- / her- suyo (s) suya (s) su (s)
1st person Pl. Our- nuestro (s) nuestra (s) nuestro (s) nuestra (s)
2nd person Pl. Your- vuestro (s) vuestra (s) vuestro (s) vuestra (s)
3rd person Pl. Her- / your- suyo (s) suya (s) su (s)

Indefinite pronouns

The indefinite pronouns , also indefinite pronouns, pronombres indefinidos , are words that give expression to a relation to a set, but often with a tendency to be vague. They represent one or more indeterminate persons or things in the third person and for objects that cannot or cannot be quantified or identified in more detail. In contrast to the generalizing pronouns discussed above ( se, uno, etc.), indefinite pronouns cannot be used repeatedly in order to maintain the reference to the same individual (see the article Generalizing Personal Pronouns ).

Four groups can be recorded:

  • Indefinite pronouns of estimation. Examples: mucho ("a lot"), tanto ("so much"), menos ("less").
  • Indefinite pronouns of choice. Examples: algún (“any one”), alguien (“someone”), tal (“such”), nadie (“nobody”), cualquiera (“any one”).
  • Indefinite pronouns of the whole. Example: todo ("everyone").
  • Indefinite pronouns of assignment. Examples: cada ("each one")

Some expressions that are traditionally listed as indefinite pronouns do not actually belong under such a category because they are clearly definitive, e.g. B. ambos (“both”) or los otros (“the other”).

The pronouns mentioned form a group also in that the grammatical categories gender and number are not consistently pronounced in these types; for example menos ("less") is not inflectable at all, tal ("such") forms a plural form (tales) but no gender distinction, etc.

If the pronouns are related to a noun, more precisely before such a noun, they are also called indefinite companions, pronombres indefinidos del discurso or determinantes . Quite a few indefinites can fulfill a pronominal as well as an accompanying function or only one function of both. Some are also used adverbially (i.e. free-standing in the sentence).

relative pronoun

Relative pronouns, pronombres reflexivos, fulfill two functions in Spanish, as in German: On the one hand, they replace nouns, adverbs and pronouns. On the other hand, they combine a main clause with a subordinate clause: They introduce the so-called relative clause . Relative clauses mostly refer to a noun, which is then called a reference word, so they have an attributive function . They come after the reference word. Example: La casa en que vivo es mía. The house I live in is mine.

Relative pronouns that stand for a thing only have the form que ; it can, however, be marked by prepositions for case: genitive de que ; Dative a que ; Accusative que . There are also compound forms with additional prepositions: sobre, con, delante, enfrente , etc.

The Spanish relative pronouns also have compound forms that are formed with an article. This article then also expresses gender and plural, although que itself cannot be changed.

In spelling, relative pronouns never have an accent , while similarly sounding question pronouns , pronombres interrogativos , such as quién , cuál , cuánto , etc., are provided with an acute accent, acento agudo . (It should be noted that interrogative pronouns can also introduce a subordinate clause).

The following table gives an overview of the Spanish relative pronouns and their forms. Usage examples can be found in the article Relative Clause (Spanish) #Relative Pronouns .

Relative pronoun genus to form Nominative Genitive Dative (indirect object) Accusative (direct object) Remarks; German translation
que masculine feminine Equal gender and corresponding plural forms que de que a que que For people and things ; which; that, that, that.
el que masculine feminine neuter la que, de la que, a la que, la que there is also neuter lo que and corresponding plural forms el que del que al que el que Facts with neuter lo que; that what; What. Lo que refers to the complete, preceding sentence. After short monosyllabic prepositions and after algo and nada. With distance to the reference word.
el cual masculine feminine neuter la cual, de la cual, a la cual, la cual there is also neuter lo cual and corresponding plural forms el cual del cual al cual el cual Persons and things , facts with neuter lo cual; that, that, that; which. Lo cual with reference to the full sentence. Rarely in colloquial language; often in written language. After polysyllabic or compound prepositions. With distance to the reference word.
quien masculine feminine Equal gender and corresponding plural forms quien de quien a quien quien only people ; the who; which, which. After monosyllabic and polysyllabic or compound prepositions instead of que, el que, el cual.
cuyo masculine feminine only genitive and corresponding plural form - cuyo - - People and things ; whose, whose. The number and gender of cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas are based on the following and not the preceding noun.
cuanto masculine feminine neuter cuanta, cuanta, cuanto, neuter like masculine form, plural accordingly cuanto - a cuanto cuanto People and things ; all that ..., all that; all of them. Ownership.

History of Spanish Pronouns: Origin from Latin

The Latin was, as today's Spanish, a language that was set only in the Subjektpronomina if they have heraushebende, contrasting function. In Latin there are various demonstrative , which can also be used stand-alone, about ille ( "that", "the"), a demonstrative , originally on remote or well-known people or objects points . In the Romance languages ​​this demonstrative, on the one hand, takes on the development of a definite article , on the other hand , artículo determinado , it becomes a personal pronoun ( grammaticalize ). The personal pronoun of the third person is (German "er"), which is present in Latin, is thereby displaced. Here are the changes to the subject pronoun as an example.

Grammaticalization translation
classical latin illegal venit he is coming
Spanish él viene he comes
Italian egli viene he comes
French il vient he comes

In classical Latin it was said that if two pronouns followed one another, the dative case preceded the accusative, e.g. B. "illi illum" ("him it") or "illi illas" ("him she"). The vowels of Vulgar Latin changed: the unstressed "i" in the initial sound of the first Latin pronoun was lost in favor of the "i" in the initial sound of the second pronoun. The Latin phrases developed now spoken language on the stage "lielo" or "liela" to the old Spanish pronoun "gelo" or "gela".

  • illi illum> lielo> gelo> lo
  • illi illam> liela> gela> la
  • illi illud> lielu> gelu> lo
  • illi illos> lielos> los> los
  • illi illas> lielas> gelas> las

The dative pronoun "le" developed from the form "illi". While the accusative pronouns "lo", "la" developed from the Latin forms "illum", "illam" and "illud". More precisely “illum” and “illud” to the Spanish “lo” and “illam” to “la”. The plural forms come from the demonstratives “illis” in the dative for “les” and “illos” and “illas” in the accusative for “los” and “las”. - The development of today's forms se lo and se la did not take place until the 16th century .

In the first and second person, the stressed object pronouns developed from the declination forms of the Latin dative, while the unstressed pronouns from the forms of the Latin accusative. The Latin-Spanish equivalents are:

  • Latin dative - Spanish concrete pronoun: mihi – mí; tibi – tí; nobis – nosotros; vobis – vosotros .
  • Latin accusative - Spanish unstressed pronoun: me – me; te – te; nos – nos; vos – os.

In the case of the relative pronouns of today's Spanish, the origin of the Latin forms can still be partially recognized (apart from the loss of the ablative):

case Latin relative pronoun (singular) German translation Spanish relative pronoun
Nominative qui, quae, quod who, who, who que
Genitive cuius whose, whose, whose cuyo, cuya
dative cui to whom, to whom (a) quien
Accusative quem, quam, quod den, die, das, whom que
ablative quoa, qua, quo, by who, by whom, by whom - (instead: por quien)

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ pronombres personales de sujeto tónicos
  2. ↑ pronombre ablativo or pronombre preposicional e instrumental
  3. ↑ pronombres átonos de objeto directo
  4. ↑ pronombres átonos de objeto indirecto
  5. ↑ a b Special forms in connection with con
  6. ↑ In parts of Hispanic America, see Voseo
  7. ↑ a b If there is a third person personal pronoun in the accusative (lo, la, los, las) in front of you
  8. ↑ from engl. pro-drop short for pronoun dropping , "omitting a pronoun"
  9. ↑ but in Berschin et al. under indefinita
  10. ↑ however, the grammar of de Bruyne lists "otro" under indefinite pronouns

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joachim Born, Robert Folger, Christopher F. Laferl, Bernhard Pöll (Eds.): Handbook Spanish, Language, Literature, Culture, History in Spain and Hispanoamerica. For study, teaching, practice. Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-503-13793-0 , p. 319.
  2. ^ Jacques de Bruyne: Spanish grammar. Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 2002, ISBN 3-484-50294-0 , pp. 151-182.
  3. ↑ J. der Bruyne, Spanish grammar . Niemeyer, Tübingen 2002. p. 163.
  4. ↑ *** FIND OTHERS *** Rolf Kailuweit: Pro-drop, congruence and “optimal” clitics. A description approach within the framework of the role and reference grammar (PDF). In: Carmen Kelling, Judith Meinschaefer, Katrin Mutz (eds.): Morphology and Romance Linguistics. XXIX. German Romance Day, Saarbrücken 2005, Department of Linguistics at the University of Konstanz, Working Paper No. 120.
  5. ↑ Irene Gil Laforga, Eugenio Cascón Martín, Manuel Pérez Fernández (eds.): Nueva gramática de la lengua española. Real Academia Española, Espasa Libros, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-670-3471-4 .
  6. ↑ The personal than owning object - El pronombre personal átono. Justo Fernández López. hispanoteca.eu
  7. ↑ de Bruyne 2002, pp. 169f.
  8. ↑ Justo Fernández López: The modal verbs - los verbos modales. Hispanoteca.
  9. ↑ Claudia Moriena, Karen Genschow: Great learning grammar Spanish: rules, examples of use, tests; [Level A1 - C1]. Hueber Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-19-104145-8 , p. 182.
  10. ↑ The asterisk denotes a grammatically unacceptable form in linguistics.
  11. ↑ Justo Fernández López: The redundancy forms of the personal pronoun - El pronombre personal redundante. Hispanoteca.
  12. ^ Helmut Berschin , Julio Fernández-Sevilla, Josef Felixberger: The Spanish language. Distribution, history, structure. 3. Edition. Georg Olms, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2005, ISBN 3-487-12814-4 , pp. 191–192
  13. ↑ The redundancy forms of the personal pronoun. Justo Fernández López. Hispanoteca
  14. ↑ Begoña Prieto Peral, Victoria Fülöp-Lucio: Spanish grammar - short and painless. Langenscheidt, Berlin / Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-468-34881-5 , p. 123.
  15. ↑ Victoria Escandell Vidal: Notas sobre la gramática de los posesivos. Pp. 265-277.
  16. ↑ De Bruyne (2002), p. 196ff., From there also the example
  17. ↑ Indefinite Pronouns - Spanish Forms. hispanoteca.eu
  18. ^ Indefinite pronouns. hispanoteca.eu
  19. ^ Helmut Berschin, Julio Fernández-Sevilla, Josef Felixberger: The Spanish language. Distribution, history, structure. 3. Edition. Georg Olms, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2005, ISBN 3-487-12814-4 , pp. 188–190.
  20. ^ Helmut Berschin, Julio Fernández-Sevilla, Josef Felixberger: The Spanish language. Distribution, history, structure. 3. Edition. Georg Olms, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2005, ISBN 3-487-12814-4
  21. ↑ Asunción Martínez Arbelaiz: Otro caso de prescriptivismo: los pronombres de relativo tras preposición. In: Actas del XV congreso internacional de ÁSELE. 2004, pp. 566-572.
  22. ^ Hans-Georg Beckmann: New Spanish grammar. dnf-Verlag, Göppingen 1994, ISBN 3-9803483-3-4 , p. 297.
  23. ^ Holger Siever: Translate Spanish into German. A work book. Narr study books, Gunter Narr, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8233-6391-0 , p. 118.
  24. ^ Hispanoteca. Relative pronoun
  25. ↑ Latin and its daughter languages
  26. ↑ Felix Bühring: About the form and use of the old Spanish personal pronoun in the two manuscripts of the old Spanish translation of the Codi. Dissertation. Hohmann printing house, Halle a. P. 1909.
  27. ^ Annegret Alsdorf-Bollee, Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh: Spanische Sprachgeschichte. 5th edition. Klett, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-12-939624-7 , p. 64.
  28. ↑ Ángeles Álvarez Martínez: El Pronombre. Volume 1, Arco / libros, Madrid 1989, ISBN 84-7635-054-6 , p. 47.