13 Capítulo 2: Sección 1: Orígenes

Gramática: Los pronombres personales

Before we start working with verbs and constructing full sentences, we need to begin with personal pronouns. These pronouns tell us who is doing the action in the sentence.

Actividad 1. ¿Qué pronombre?

Instructions: Given the following situations, decide which personal pronoun you will use to refer to that person.

Modelo: If you are in Latin America and talking directly to a group of people, use ustedes.

1. If you are talking directly to a friend, use _________.
2. If you are talking about a male friend, use_________.
3. If you are talking directly to a judge, use _________.
4. If you are talking about yourself, use _________.
5. If you are talking about two people, male and female, use _________.
6. If you are talking about yourself and your mom, use _________.
7. If you are in Spain and talking directly to a group of friends, use _________.
8. If you are talking directly to a child, use _________.
9. If you are talking about two people, both females, use  _________.
10. If you are talking about yourself and your brother, use _________.
11. If you are talking about your parents, use _________.

Actividad 2. Suma de pronombres

Instructions: Which personal pronoun will you use when you add one person to the pronouns below? For those that have two or more options, discuss the different scenarios with a partner.

Modelo:  Ella + 1 = Ellas -o- Ellos

1. Yo + 1 = _________-o- _________
2. Tú + 1 = _________-o- _________(España)  _________ (Latinoamérica)
3. Él + 1 = _________
4. Mi madre + 1 = _________-o- _________
5. Mis padres viven en Idaho, pero originalmente _________ son de California.

Actividad 3. ¡A sustituir!

Instructions: Read the following sentences that use names, then decide what pronoun you will use to replace the names as the conversation continues.

Modelo: Tú y yo corremos por el parque. Nosotros corremos por el parque.

1. Mi hermano canta mucho. _________ es músico.
2. Señora Londoño es profesora _________ es muy inteligente.
3. Antonia y María son mis amigas. _________ son simpáticas.
4. Jorge y yo vamos al cine. _________ somos novios.

El verbo ser

The verb ser in Spanish means “to be.” In English and in Spanish, this verb is irregular, meaning it does not follow a pattern. We will look at how to conjugate it and then how to use it. 

Conjugation

“POP”

POP is a mnemonic device to help you remember when to use ser. Mnemonic devices are a great memory technique for language learning.

• Personality and physical characteristics
• Origin (ser followed by de)
• Profession

Examples:

• Personality and physical characteristics: Yo soy reservada y tranquila. También soy morena. Mi hermana es extrovertida y sociable. Ella es rubia.
• Origin: ¿De dónde eres?…Soy de Idaho. ¿De dónde son tus padres?…Mis padres son de California.
• Profession: Yo soy profesora de español. Mi padre es consejero. Mi hermana es trabajadora social.

*We will see more uses for ser in the future, especially after learning about the verb estar.  However, these three uses are extremely common and are a very good place to start.

Actividad 4. ¿Cómo es?

Instructions: Use clues in the sentence to fill in the blank with the correct form of ser.

 Modelo: Yo soy profesora.

1. Mi novia _____________ muy bonita.
2. Alejandro y Mateo _____________ inteligentes.
3. Mi esposo y yo _____________ del estado de Iowa.
4. Yo _____________ alto y amable.
5. Tú _____________ muy aventurero.
6. Ustedes _____________ de los Estados Unidos, ¿no?
7. Vosotros _____________ de los Estados Unidos, ¿no?
8. Marta y Francesca _____________ mis mejores amigas.

Actividad 5. El origen

Instructions: Answer the questions below about where these people are from. Remember to use de after ser when discussing origin.

Modelo: ¿De dónde es Carlos? Él es de México.

1. ¿De dónde eres? _____________
2. ¿De dónde es tu padre? ______________
3. ¿De dónde son tus abuelos (grandparents)? _______________