pronombre

Pronombre is the Spanish term for pronoun, a word that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase to avoid repetition. The term comes from Latin pronomen, literally “before a name.” In grammar, pronouns encode information about person, number, gender, and, in many languages, case.

Pronouns function as substitutes in sentences, standing in for people, places, things, or ideas. They help maintain cohesion across discourse and can appear in various syntactic roles, such as subjects, objects, or complements. In many languages, pronouns also carry clitic or affix behavior, attaching to verbs or other words.

Common categories of pronouns include: personal pronouns (subject and object forms like I/me, you, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them); possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his/hers, ours, theirs); demonstratives (this, that, these, those); relative pronouns (who, whom, which, that); interrogatives (who, what, which); reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves); and reciprocal pronouns (each other, one another). Languages vary in how these forms are expressed and how strictly they agree with antecedents in gender and number.

In Spanish, pronombres are organized into subcategories such as pronombres personales, pronombres posesivos, pronombres demostrativos, and pronombres relativos. Spanish often combines subject pronouns with verb conjugations, and uses object pronouns as clitics placed before or after the verb, with gender and number agreement.

Pronouns also reflect evolving usage, including gender-neutral and inclusive forms in many languages. They are a fundamental element of grammar, essential for reference, cohesion, and clarity in communication.