Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

[cassrebecca]

Hello, I am having a heck of time recognizing when to use Ellos, Ellas, and Ustedes. Does anyone have any tips on how to distinguish between them?

[Rusty]

These are plural subject pronouns. They translate into English as 'they (all male or mixed company)', 'they (all female)' and 'you'.
The first two pronouns-ellos and ellas-designate a third person; they are used to reference people you're speaking about (a third party), not the persons you're speaking to.
The last pronoun-ustedes-designates a second person; it's used to address people you're speaking to (a second party), not the people you're speaking about.

When a plural subject pronoun is used, the verb is conjugated in its third-person plural form. Even though ustedes is a plural second person subject pronoun, the verb is still conjugated in third person plural.

Singular Subject
Él es fuerte y listo.	He is strong and smart.
Ella es fuerte y lista.	She is strong and smart.
Usted es fuerte y listo.	You (male) are strong and smart.
Usted es fuerte y lista.	You (female) are strong and smart.

Plural Subject
Ellos son fuertes y listos.	They (all male or mixed company) are strong and smart.
Ellas son fuertes y listas.	They (all female) are strong and smart.
Ustedes son fuertes y listos.	You (all male or mixed company) are strong and smart.
Ustedes son fuertes y listas.	You (all female) are strong and smart.

[cassrebecca]

Rusty,

Thank you soooo much, you explained it perfectly for me to understand. The book my profesora is using in my college course is terrible and does not explain very well!! Again thank you so much.

Best,
Rebecca

[Rusty]

You're welcome.