What Is He In Spanish? | Simple Pronoun Guide

The subject pronoun for a single male person in Spanish is “él,” with an accent mark and a clear short e sound.

English speakers usually learn early that the Spanish word for “he” is él. Spanish also has object and prepositional forms that match “him,” such as lo, le, and phrases like con él or para él.

This guide shows how él appears in everyday speech, how it links to those related forms, and how accent marks and gender agreement keep meaning clear for new learners today.

He In Spanish Conversation: How Native Speakers Use Él

The core answer to “What is he in Spanish?” is the subject pronoun él, the third person singular form for a male or masculine subject.

In simple sentences, you can place él right before the verb:

• Él vive en México. – He lives in Mexico.

Spanish also allows a “null subject,” which means the subject can drop when context already tells us who we mean. So speakers often skip él and leave only the verb:

• Vive en México. – He lives in Mexico.

Grammars from the Instituto Cervantes Plan Curricular list él as part of the basic subject pronoun set, side by side with yo, tú, nosotros, and others.

What Is He In Spanish? Full Pronoun Breakdown

The English word “he” usually stands for both subject and object roles. Spanish spreads that work across a few different forms. When you say “he” as the subject, you use él. When you say “him,” you might use lo, le, or the phrase a él, depending on the verb and the role in the sentence.

Here is a quick overview of the main forms connected to “he” in Spanish:

Role	Spanish Form	Example Sentence
Subject “he”	él	Él estudia español. – He studies Spanish.
Subject “he” dropped	(no pronoun)	Estudia español. – He studies Spanish.
Direct object “him”	lo	Lo veo cada día. – I see him every day.
Indirect object “to him”	le	Le escribo cartas. – I write letters to him.
Object with preposition	a él	Hablo de él. – I talk about him.
Reflexive “himself”	se	Él se mira en el espejo. – He looks at himself in the mirror.
After other prepositions	con él, para él, sin él	Voy con él. – I go with him.

Direct and indirect object pronouns add nuance to this system. Guides on Spanish grammar, such as the Duolingo article on direct and indirect objects in Spanish, note that lo often marks a direct object while le usually marks an indirect object, though everyday usage in some regions blends the two.

Subject Pronoun Él

The word él marks a male or grammatically masculine subject and always pairs with a third person singular verb. It can point to a person or to any noun with masculine gender, such as el coche or el libro.

Use él when you want to make the subject clear or contrast it with someone else:

• Él habla español, pero ella no. – He speaks Spanish, but she does not.

Direct Object Lo

In sentences where “him” receives the action directly, Spanish uses lo for a masculine direct object. Place this pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to an infinitive or gerund:

• Lo conozco bien. – I know him well.

The same form lo stands for “it” when the noun is masculine. Context tells you whether it refers to a person or a thing.

Indirect Object Le

When the sentence structure means “to him” or “for him,” many verbs call for the indirect object pronoun le:

• Le doy el libro. – I give him the book.

In many parts of Spain, speakers use le even for direct objects that refer to male people, a pattern often called leísmo. Reference materials such as the Duolingo guide above help you see how lo and le work in standard patterns, yet it appears in speech across different regions.

Prepositional Forms With Él

After many prepositions, Spanish uses pronouns that look like subject forms. For “him,” that gives phrases such as con él, para él, de él, and sobre él:

• Pienso en él. – I think about him.
• Trabajo para él. – I work for him.

Accent, Pronunciation And Spelling Of Él

One small mark makes a big difference. The subject pronoun él carries an accent, while the article el does not. The Royal Spanish Academy explains in its Diccionario panhispánico de dudas entry for «él» that the accent helps readers distinguish the pronoun from the article in writing.

Every time you write the meaning “he,” you should write él with the accent mark. When the word comes before a noun and means “the,” the accent disappears and you write el:

• Él llega tarde. – He arrives late.
• El tren llega tarde. – The train arrives late.

Pronunciation stays the same in both cases, with a short e sound like English “met.”

Gender Agreement And When He Refers To Things

Spanish grammar groups nouns. A large set of nouns takes masculine articles and adjectives, and those nouns often pair with él when they act as subjects. The Royal Spanish Academy grammar on gender and number in personal pronouns lists él among masculine forms together with ellos, nosotros, and others.

So él does not always stand for a male person. It can also stand for a masculine noun such as el río (the river) or el país (the country). Speakers choose this option when context has already named the noun and they want to avoid repeating it:

• El coche es viejo, pero él aún funciona. – The car is old, but it still runs.
• El país es grande, pero él tiene una población pequeña. – The country is large, yet it has a small population.

Many teachers suggest that learners think first about noun gender, then match pronouns to that gender. A Cervantes forum thread on whether «él» can refer to things confirms that this use is standard.

English Meaning	Spanish Pronoun	Typical Use
he	él	Male person or masculine noun as subject.
him	lo	Male person as direct object.
to him	le	Male person as indirect object.
about him	de él	After preposition when topic is a male person.
with him	con él	After preposition when company is a male person.
he himself	él mismo	Emphasis on the person acting alone.
they (all male or mixed)	ellos	Group with at least one male person.

Inclusive Language And Alternatives To Él

Spanish today includes ongoing conversation about gender and pronouns. Some speakers use forms such as elle as a gender neutral alternative to él and ella, and reports like the Wikipedia entry on the Spanish pronoun «elle» describe where it appears.

The Royal Spanish Academy does not treat elle as an official pronoun in its main dictionary. A teaching guide on inclusive language in Spanish notes that learners can first master él, ella, ellos, and ellas, then decide whether to use newer neutral forms in their own speech.

Common Mistakes With He In Spanish

Habits from English can cause errors around “he” in Spanish.

Using Él When Spanish Would Drop It

English needs a subject in every sentence, so “he” almost never disappears. Spanish works differently. When the subject is clear from context or from verb endings, the pronoun usually falls away. If you keep saying él in every line, your speech can sound heavy.

Compare these two options:

• Él está en casa. Está cansado. – He is at home. He is tired.
• Está en casa. Está cansado. – He is at home. He is tired. (Second sentence drops the subject in Spanish.)

Mixing Up Lo And Le

Distinguishing lo and le can feel tricky. The general pattern says that lo replaces direct objects and le replaces indirect objects. A clear explanation in the Duolingo article above shows that lo answers “whom or what” after the verb, while le often answers “to whom.”

In many parts of Spain, speakers use le even for direct objects that refer to male people. That habit does not match every textbook, yet it appears in speech in many areas.

Forgetting The Accent On Él

Accent marks matter in Spanish spelling, and this short word shows why. Without the accent, el means “the,” not “he.” When learners type fast, they often skip diacritics, yet over time that habit can cause confusion in longer texts.

A simple check helps: if the word stands alone before a verb and you could say “he” in English, use él. If the word comes right before a noun and answers “which one,” you are probably dealing with the article el instead.

Quick Practice With He In Spanish

To make this stick, read and build short sentences that mix subject, object, and prepositional forms linked to “he” in Spanish. Use patterns like these, then swap in your own verbs, times, and places:

• Él corre cada mañana. – He runs every morning.
• Le compro un café. – I buy him a coffee.
• Pienso en él cuando viajo. – I think of him when I travel.

Read each sentence out loud, listen to native audio when you can, and then create similar lines about people you know. Over time, the link between “he” in English and él plus its related pronouns in Spanish will feel natural.