Prepositional Pronouns

As the name implies, Prepositional Pronouns function as the Objects of Prepositions. Prepositions are words like: with, for, from, without, to, between, etc. The pronouns represent a person but, like Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns, they provide you with an alternative to saying a person's name over and over. In Spanish, they also can be used for emphasis when you want to clarify WHO is feeling or thinking or doing something in particular.

In English, we use tone to convey meaning: I LOVE you vs. I love YOU vs. I love you. Since Spanish doesn't have the extreme changes in tone in the way that English does, it adds more words.
For example, Yo te amo. Since the Yo is redundant [the conjugation of Amar "to love" in the first person already tells you that Yo (I) am speaking] Yo gives emphasis to the fact that I am the one loving you (as opposed to someone else.) Adding the word Yo is like adding stress and tone to the English word "I" in the earlier statement: I love you.

To say "I love YOU" in Spanish, we add a Prepositional Pronoun: Te amo a ti.
Because Te already tells us that it is YOU whom I love, the a ti is redundant. It shows that I am trying to emphasize that it is YOU whom I love as opposed to someone (any) else.

When we use GUSTAR, ENCANTAR, INTERESAR and similar verbs, Prepositional Pronouns again help us add emphasis.

You may tell me you like swimming and Ted tells me that he likes to play tennis. If you both ask me what I like to do, then I would respond: "Well, I like to horseback ride." As I spoke, I would emphasize the word "I".
In Spanish, to achieve the same emphasis, we say: A mí me gusta montar a caballo. This is emphasizing that I prefer a different sport than those you and Ted enjoy. ¿Qué deporte te gusta a ti?

Prepositional Pronouns

mí	Nosotros
ti	Vosotros
Él, ella, usted	Ellos, ellas, ustedes

Notice that mí requires an accent. Mi without an accent is a possessive - meaning "my". Ti doesn't need an accent because the possessive form is tu.

Click here for specific information on prepositional pronouns and with certain prepositions

Redundancy and "tags"
We use "tags" with nouns identifying indirect objects for clarity.

For example, I say, "I showed the photos to them." It is unclear who "they" are unless we've been having a discussion in which I had previously indicated about whom I was talking. But if you had just entered the conversation, you may ask, "Who did you show them to?" I may reply, "To Melanie and Antonio."
In Spanish, this works the same way: Les mostré las fotos." "¿A quiénes?" "A Melanie y Antonio."
However, English and Spanish differ when identifying the indirect object specifically:
In English I would say: "I showed the photos to Melanie and Antonio." I do not use "them" since I named names!
In Spanish I would say: "Les mostré las fotos a Melanie y Antonio."
Notice I still use the pronoun "les" even though I have added the tag "a Melanie y Antonio." The "a Melanie y Antonio" is optional; "les" is not.

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