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Lesson 23 · Lección vigésima tercera - Lección veintitrés

Personal Pronouns in the Plural and the Verbs ver, encontrar, pedir

Pepe ha reñido con María

José encuentra a Juan en la esquina de la calle.
— ¡Hola, Juan! ¿Adónde vas?
— A la casa donde vives, a casa de mi novia.
— Bueno. ¿No quieres tomar antes un vaso de vino conmigo?
— ¿Qué te pasa, Pepe?
— No me pasa nada. ¿Quieres o no quieres?
— Bueno.
Juan y José entran en la primera taberna que encuentran y piden jerez. text translation
Personal pronouns in the plural: nos, os, los, las, les
La taberna está llena de gente. Juan ve a unos conocidos.
— ¿Ves a aquellos hombres? — pregunta Juan.
— Sí, los veo. ¿Por qué me preguntas?
— Son amigos de mi padre, podemos sentarnos a su mesa de ellos.
text translation — No los conozco, ¿qué voy a decirles?
— Pepe, ¿has reñido con María?
— No quiero hablar de mujeres, no las quiero ver, no quiero oír nada de ellas, quiero beber mi vino. ¡Bebe tu vino, Juan! El vino es „la bebida cantada por los poetas... en el vino encuentra el poeta inspiración, el soldado ardimiento, el trabajador fuerza, el enfermo salud... En el vino halla el hombre goce y alegría y el anciano fortaleza. El vino excita la inteligencia, aviva la imaginación, fortifica la voluntad, mantiene la energía” ...
— ¡Basta, Pepe! Estás ebrio ya.
— No, Juan, no estoy borracho, he leído todo esto en „La Bodega”, de Blasco Ibáñez Hint. text translation

Vocablos

  reñir to quarrel, to argue
  encontrar to meet, to encounter; to find
la esquina street corner
  antes before; earlier
el vaso glass
la taberna tavern
  pedir to ask (for); to order
el jerez sherry (a type of Spanish wine)
la gente people
  conocer to know
  conocido, -a acquaintance; known
  aquellos those
  hombre man
  sentarse to sit (down)
la mujer woman; wife
la bebida drink, beverage
la inspiración inspiration
el soldado soldier
el ardimiento courage, bravery
el trabajador worker; working
la fuerza strength, force
la salud health
  hallar to find
el goce enjoyment, pleasure
la alegría joy, happiness
el anciano old man, elder
la fortaleza strength; fortitude; vitality
  excitar to excite, to arouse
la inteligencia intelligence, mind
  avivar to enliven, to brighten up
la imaginación imagination, fantasy
  fortificar to fortify, to strengthen
la voluntad will; willpower
  mantener to support, to maintain
la energía energy
  ebrio, -a drunk (formal)
  borracho, -a drunk (informal)

Remember the expressions:

 

¿adónde vas?

where are you going?

 

¿qué te pasa?

What’s the matter with you? What’s wrong?

 

a su mesa

to/at their table

Grammar points

1. The conjugation of the verbs ver, encontrar, pedir

The verb ver to see is an irregular verb of individual conjugation; the verb encontrar to meet, to encounter; to find belongs to group II of deviating verbs, and the verb pedir to ask (for); to order belongs to group I of deviating verbs.

Presente
ver — to see
singular plural
1. veo I see vemos we see
2. ves you see veis you see
3. ve he sees ven they see
encontrar — to meet, to find
singular plural
1. encuentro I meet encontramos we meet
2. encuentras you meet encontráis you meet
3. encuentra he meets encuentran they meet
pedir — to ask
singular plural
1. pido I ask pedimos we ask
2. pides you ask pedís you ask
3. pide he asks piden they ask
Pretérito imperfecto
ver — to see
singular plural
1. veía I was seeing veíamos we were seeing
2. veías you were seeing veíais you were seeing
3. veía he was seeing veían they were seeing
encontrar — to meet, to find
singular plural
1. encontraba I was meeting encontrábamos we were meeting
2. encontrabas you were meeting encontrabais you were meeting
3. encontraba he was meeting encontraban they were meeting
pedir — to ask
singular plural
1. pedía I was asking pedíamos we were asking
2. pedías you were asking pedíais you were asking
3. pedía he was asking pedían they were asking
Pretérito perfecto
ver — to see
singular plural
1. he visto I have seen hemos visto we have seen
2. has visto you have seen habéis visto you have seen
3. ha visto he has seen han visto they have seen
encontrar — to meet, to find
singular plural
1. he encontrado I have met hemos encontrado we have met
2. has encontrado you have met habéis encontrado you have met
3. ha encontrado he has met han encontrado they have met
pedir — to ask
singular plural
1. he pedido I have asked hemos pedido we have asked
2. has pedido you have asked habéis pedido you have asked
3. ha pedido he has asked han pedido they have asked

Imperativo

¡ve! see! ¡encuentra! meet! ¡pide! ask!
¡ved! see! ¡encontrad! meet! ¡pedid! ask!

2. Personal pronouns (continuation)

In lesson 19, we talked about the usage of personal pronouns in the singular. Below is the table of personal pronouns in the plural.

Table of personal pronouns

Plural
  nosotros, -as we vosotros, -as you
Nom. nosotros, -as we vosotros, -as you
Gen. de nosotros, -as of us de vosotros, -as of you
Dat. nos (a/para to us, os (a/para to you,
  nosotros, -as) for us vosotros, -as) for you
Acc. nos (a nosotros, -as) us os (a vosotros, -as) you
Voc.     ¡vosotros, -as! you!
Abl. con nosotros, -as with us con vosotros, -as with you
  en nosotros, -as in us en vosotros, -as in you
  etc.   etc.  
  ellos, -as they ustedes You (polite)
Nom. ellos, -as they ustedes you
Gen. de ellos, -as of them de ustedes of you
Dat. les (a ellos, a ellas) to them, for them les (a ustedes) to you
Acc. los, les (a ellos) them (male) los, les (a ustedes) you (male)
  las (a ellas) them (female) las (a ustedes) you (female)
Voc.     ¡ustedes! you!
Abl. con ellos with them con ustedes with you
  en ellos in them en ustedes in you
  etc.   etc.  

1) Personal pronouns as subjects

A personal pronoun as the subject of the sentence can be used before or after the verb. In Spanish, when we talk about a known person, the personal pronoun-subject is often omitted, for example:

 

pregunto ahora

(I) am asking now

 

yo pregunto ahora

I am asking now

 

ahora pregunto yo

now I am asking

The word order changes in interrogative sentences. The personal pronoun-subject usually goes after the verb (in a simple tense or after a passive participle), for example:

 

¿Habla Vd.?

Do you speak?

 

¿No tiene Vd. este libro?

Don’t you have this book?

 

¿Ha hablado ella contigo?

Has she spoken with you?

2) Personal pronouns as objects

From lesson 19 you know that two forms of personal pronouns can function as an object: stressed (prepositional) and unstressed (non-prepositional).

a) The unstressed form of personal pronouns, functioning as a direct or indirect object, usually goes before the verb, for example:

 

le doy

I give him

 

le conocemos

we know him

 

te saludo

I greet you

 

os veo

I see you

b) Sometimes the unstressed forms of personal pronouns go after the verbs. In this case, the pronouns are usually written with the verbs as one word.

The merged spelling of pronouns with verbs is used in the following cases:

  • when the verb is in the imperative mood:

     

    ¡llámalo!

    call him!

     

    ¡tómalo!

    take it!

  • when the verb is in the infinitive form:

     

    quiero verle

    I want to see him

     

    voy a darle

    I’ll give her (I’m going to give her)

  • when the verb is a gerundio:

     

    leyéndote

    reading to you

     

    diciéndole

    telling him

Note:

  1. The negation no always goes before the pronoun, for example:

     

    No te doy.

    I don’t give you.

     

    No le conozco.

    I don’t know him.

  2. If two pronouns go before or after a verb, then the 1st and 2nd person pronouns go before the 3rd person pronoun; in this case, the 3rd person pronoun acts as the direct object, while the 1st and 2nd person pronouns act as the indirect object, for example:

     

    Me lo das.

    You give it to me.

     

    Nos la compras.

    You buy it for us.

     

    Os las mandamos.

    We send them to you.

  3. The pronoun form se, both personal and reflexive, goes before all the other pronouns, for example:

     

    Se te quema la casa.

    Your house is burning.

     

    Se me ha olvidado.

    I forgot. (lit.: It was forgotten to me.)

Exercises

I. Translate the personal pronouns given in brackets and put them in the correct form.

María у Juana hablan con Juan. Yo (them) veo. José y Juan están en el café, nosotros (them) invitamos a nuestra casa. ¿Adónde van ustedes? Yo (you, polite form) invito a ustedes a tomar un vaso de jerez en mi casa y a las señoras yo (them) invito al teatro. (You, pl.) doy diez minutos para pensar. Quiero hablar (with them) , quiero decir (to them) que no puedo ir al teatro hoy. Juan quiere ir a casa de los tíos para preguntar (them) si vienen el domingo.

Key

II. Substitute the proper name with an appropriate personal pronoun.

Example: Yo hablo con Juan. — Yo hablo con él.

Juana está en casa. — Quiero hablar con .
Juana sale con José y Juan. — Juana sale con .
María da un libro a Juana. — María da un libro.
María da un lápiz a Juan. — María da un lápiz.
Yo veo a María y a Juana. — Yo veo.
Yo hablo con María y Juana. — Yo hablo con .

Key

III. Translate into English:

Juan y José salen de la taberna y en la calle encuentran al padre de José. — ¿Qué es esto? ¿Qué veo? ¡José y Juan han bebido! ¡Empezáis temprano, muchachos! Id a casa, quiero hablar con vosotros. — Papá ¿has visto a Juana y a María? — pregunta José. — No las he visto y no quiero hablar de ellas. Quiero deciros que sois unos sinvergüenzas. — Papá — dice José — quiero decirte que no he bebido mucho. — Ha pasado algo — dice Juan. — ¿No puedes decirme qué ha pasado? — Una mujer ... — ¿Qué ..? — Nada, José ha reñido con María.

Key

IV. Translate into Spanish:

When Jose sings I like to listen to him. When I see good books I like to read them. I wanted to go with Maria to her aunt’s house, but she didn’t want to go with me. Today we are all going for a walk. Mary and Juana are going with us. Are Jose and Juan going too? I don’t know, I haven’t talked with them. Can you tell them that we’re waiting for them at home? I can’t tell them anything, I don’t see them, I don’t know where they are. Here are Jose’s cigarettes, do you see them? Give them to the father, he hasn’t smoked today yet.

Key