Dropping Subject Pronouns

Level 1

The verb ending tells you who is doing the action, so Galician usually drops the pronoun: Falo galego (I speak Galician), Vivimos en Lugo (We live in Lugo).

How It Works

The ending does the work. Each verb form has its own ending: falo (I speak), falas (you speak), falamos (we speak). Adding eu or nós is usually unnecessary: Falo galego, Vivimos en Lugo. See Present Tense of -ar Verbs.

Use the pronoun for contrast. When you compare people, say who is who: Eu traballo, e ti? (I work, and you?), Ela cociña e el lava os pratos (She cooks and he washes the dishes).

Use the pronoun to answer "who?". The pronoun is the new information, so it often goes after the verb: Quen paga? — Pago eu. (Who is paying? — I am.)

Use the pronoun to avoid confusion. A form like traballa can mean he, she or formal you works. If the context does not say who, add el, ela or vostede.

No subject for the weather. English needs "it" in "It is raining", but Galician simply says Chove. See Talking About the Weather. Galician also has an optional el with no meaning of its own, as in El é verdade? (Is it true?). The standard accepts it, but you never need it.

For the full list of pronouns, see Subject Pronouns.

Examples (6)

  1. Falo galego.

    I speak Galician.

    The ending -o already means "I".

  2. Vivimos en Lugo.

    We live in Lugo.

    The ending -mos already means "we".

  3. Eu traballo, e ti?

    I work, and you?

    The pronouns set the two people against each other.

  4. Ela cociña e el lava os pratos.

    She cooks and he washes the dishes.

    Without ela and el, it would sound like one person does both.

  5. Quen paga? — Pago eu.

    Who is paying? — I am.

    The pronoun answers "who?" and comes after the verb.

  6. Chove moito hoxe.

    It is raining a lot today.

    Weather verbs have no subject.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the pronouns when you mean that two different people do two different things.

    Fala galego e fala castelán.
    Ela fala galego e el fala castelán.

    Without pronouns, the sentence means one person speaks both languages. To say "She speaks Galician and he speaks Spanish", name each person.

  • Relying on the pronoun and forgetting the verb ending.

    Eu fala galego.
    Eu falo galego.

    The pronoun does not replace the ending. With eu the verb must be falo.

How It Connects

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Dropping Subject PronounsLevel 1

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The verb can identify its subject without an overt pronoun.

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Patterns that build on this one.