Prepositional Pronouns In Spanish: What You Need To Know

In this post, we are going to do a dive deep into Prepositional Pronouns in Spanish.

Just to refresh your memory, a pronoun is a word or phrase that is used as a substitute for a noun or a noun phrase that was previously mentioned in the same context.

Let’s start with a simple example of how a personal pronoun works:

• Ana is an excellent student. She really enjoys learning new things – Ana es una estudiante excelente. A ella le gusta muchísimo aprender cosas nuevas

In this example, the personal pronoun she is used to substitute the original noun Ana.

Now that we have refreshed what we mean by pronouns, it’s time to explore when and how Spanish prepositional pronouns are used.

When To Use Spanish Prepositional Pronouns

You already know what a pronoun is.

A preposition is what we use to indicate the relationship between two words or phrases, and will often express how these words are connected in terms of location, direction or time.

Some examples of prepositions are: above (sobre, encima de), across/to (a través de), of (de), on (en, sobre, encima), for (por, para), with (con), etc.

Now, Prepositional Pronouns are words that appear after a preposition, and their ultimate goal is to work as the object of a preposition.

For example, if I was to say “the light is above me”.

Here, the preposition is above, and the prepositional pronoun is me.

In Spanish, most prepositional pronouns are similar to personal pronouns, except for me (mí) and you (tí).

For example,

• Those two people are working for me – Esas dos personas trabajan para mí
• The new student is seated next to you – El estudiante nuevo está sentado al lado de ti

How To Use Prepositional Pronouns

The first thing you will need to form a prepositional phrase is a preposition, such as: de (of), con (with), sin (without), for (para, por).

(ps, we wrote an extensive list of Spanish prepositions here)

Secondly, you are going to add a suitable pronoun that corresponds to the noun, person or thing we are referring to.

Prepositional pronouns are formed when a preposition is followed by a pronoun (e.g. to me, for us, next to him etc).

Let’s take a simple example:

•  Mi mamá siempre habla de ti – My mum always talks about you.

Now we’ll break it down.

Subject	Adverb	Verb	Preposition	Prepositional Pronoun
Mi mamá	siempre	habla	de	ti
My mum	always	talks	about	you

Below is a list of Prepositional Pronouns, and an example of how they are used.

Prepositional Pronoun	English	Example	English
mí	me	El regalo es para mí	The present is for me
ti	you	El regalo es para ti	The present is for you
él	him	El regalo es para él	The present is for him
ella	her	El regalo es para ella	The present is for her
usted	you	El regalo es para usted	The present is for you
ellos	them	El regalo es para ellos	The present is for them
ellas	them	El regalo es para ellas	The present is for them
ustedes	you all	El regalo es para ustedes	The present is for you

As mentioned before, apart from the “yo” and “tú” forms, prepositional pronouns are exactly the same as personal pronouns.

The pronoun “mí” carries a written accent which is not necessary for pronunciation, but it helps to distinguish it from the possessive adjective “mi (my)”.

Ps. here is a list of the most commonly used verbs with prepositions.

Spanish Prepositional Pronouns: The Exceptions

Of course, like many concepts in Spanish, there are certain exceptions to the aforementioned rules.

In this case, there are three instances when the regular prepositional pronouns we listed will not be used.

1) Prepositions followed by Personal Pronouns

When you use any of the below prepositions, you need to replace the mí and ti pronouns with yo and tú respectively. 

Preposition	English
entre	between
excepto	except
hasta	including
incluso	even, including
menos	except
salvo	except
según	according to

Examples

• The problem is between you and me – El problema es entre tú y yo
• Everyone will attend to the meeting except you and them – Todo el mundo irá a la reunión excepto tú y ellas
• The party was at Daniela’s place. Everyone was having a blast except my girlfriend and me – La fiesta fue en la casa de Daniela. Todo el mundo la estaba pasando genial salvo mi novia y yo
• Many people, including me, believe in Santa Clause – Muchas personas creen en San Nicolás, hasta yo

2) Using conmigo (with me) or contigo (with you)

For phonetic reasons, when we use the preposition con (with) along with the mi (me) or ti (you) pronouns, you replace them with conmigo (with me) and contigo (with you)

Let’s see some examples of this.

• Do you want to dance with me? – ¿Quieres bailar conmigo?
• They will go with you to Panama, won’t they? – Ellos irán contigo a Panamá, ¿cierto?
• Ernesto and her sister are training with me – Ernesto y su hermana están entrenando conmigo

3) “Si” used as a Prepositional Pronoun

When you make a statement where the subject and the object are referring to the same person or people, the word sí may be used as an él/ella/usted, or ellos/ellas/ustedes to form a prepositional pronoun.

In this case, sí means “himself,” “herself,” “itself,” “yourself,” or “themselves.”

For example.

• Melissa bought a new house for herself in Buenos Aires – Melissa compró una casa nueva en Buenos Aires para sí

Nevertheless, this exception is the least common, since native speakers will typically use reflexive verbs to convey the idea of himself/herself/themselves.

• Melissa bought a new house for herself in Buenos Aires – Melissa se compró una casa nueva en Buenos Aires

Prepositional Pronouns In Spanish: Exercises

Choose the correct Prepositional Pronoun in each sentence

1. Luis y yo queremos ir contigo / conmigo / con nosotros a la fiesta
2. Los zapatos azules y la camisa de cuadros son para mi / mí / tú
3. Según ti / contigo / tú no existen los duendes
4. Entre contigo y conmigo / tú y mí / tú y yo, esta fiesta está aburridísima
5. Todos quieren conocer sus cantantes favoritos, excepto ella y yo / ella y mí / ella y ti
6. Ellos deberían aprender a confiar más en nosotros / tú / contigo
7. Mi mamá siempre me decía que podía contar con él / nosotros / ella
8. Los niños no querrán despedirse de usted / yo / tú
9. Nancy estaba hablando tú y yo / conmigo / ti y conmigo cuando recibió la llamada de su amiga
10. Ellos se han olvidado de ti y de mí / tú y yo / contigo y conmigo. Por eso estoy tan triste

Answers

1. Luis y yo queremos ir contigo a la fiesta
2. Los zapatos azules y la camisa de cuadros son para mí
3. Según tú no existen los duendes
4. Entre tú y yo, esta fiesta está aburridísima
5. Todos quieren conocer sus cantantes favoritos, excepto ella y yo
6. Ellos deberían aprender a confiar más en nosotros
7. Mi mamá siempre me decía que podía contar con ella
8. Los niños no querrán despedirse de usted
9. Nancy estaba hablando conmigo cuando recibió la llamada de su amiga
10. Ellos se han olvidado de ti y de mí. Por eso estoy tan triste