Agreement

What is happening in these sentences?

• All examples talk about a group of people who do something together in a bakery / catering context.
• The group can include the speaker → nosotros.
• The group can include the listener(s) → vosotros (used in Spain).
• You see 3 elements working together:
  • Subject (often a group noun): los panaderos, los encargados, los empleados…
  • Pronoun: nosotros, vosotros, ellos
  • Verb and adjectives: forms in –mos, –is, etc.

1. When do you say “nosotros” and when “vosotros”?

• Nosotros = the group includes you (the speaker).
  • “We bakers…” → Nosotros, los panaderos…
  • “We employees…” → Nosotros, los empleados…
• Vosotros = the group includes the people you are talking to.
  • “You (all) managers…” → Vosotros, los encargados…
  • “You (all) waiters…” → Vosotros, los camareros…
• Ellos / Ustedes = the group does not include speaker or listener.
  • They (other people): Ellos, los proveedores…

Self-check: If you are inside the group → use nosotros. If you talk to the group → use vosotros (Spain) or ustedes (Latin America).

2. How do the verbs change with “nosotros” and “vosotros”?

The subject decides the verb ending. Look at the patterns you already know:

In the examples:

• Ellos organizan → Nosotros organizamos
• Ustedes decidieron → Nosotros decidimos
• Ellos traen → Vosotros traéis

Self-check when you rewrite a sentence:

1. Change the pronoun: ellos → nosotros / vosotros.
2. Find the new verb form for that pronoun and tense.
3. Say the sentence aloud. Does it “sound like” -mos for nosotros or -is for vosotros?

3. Agreement of adjectives with the new group

When you change the subject, adjectives must also change to match the new noun (gender and number), not the pronoun itself.

• Noun group in feminine plural → adjective in feminine plural:
  • Las ensaimadas quedaron doradas.
    (ensaimadas is feminine plural → doradas feminine plural)
• Noun group in masculine plural → adjective in masculine plural:
  • Los camareros nuevos están muy nerviosos.

When you rewrite the subject:

• Ellos, los camareros nuevos, están muy nerviosos.
• → Vosotros, los camareros nuevos, estáis muy nerviosos.

Notice:

• The group noun los camareros stays masculine plural.
• The adjective nuevos and nerviosos stay masculine plural too.
• Only the pronoun and the verb change.

Self-check:

1. Underline the noun that the adjective describes.
2. Make sure adjective ending = noun gender + number, not the pronoun.

4. When do you actually say “nosotros / vosotros”?

In Spanish you normally can omit the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows who it is.

• Organizamos el catering. (= We organize the catering.)
• Decidís el menú. (= You all decide the menu.)

You add the pronoun when you want:

• Emphasis (to highlight the subject)
• Contrast (to correct or oppose another subject)

Examples:

• Nosotros los panaderos preparamos el pedido, no los proveedores.
  (We, not they, do it.)
• Vosotros decidís el menú del sábado.
  (You, not us, decide.)

Self-check:

• If there is no contrast or emphasis → you can safely omit nosotros / vosotros.
• If you want to insist on “we” or “you (all)” → use the pronoun.

5. “Nosotros / vosotros + group noun” for extra clarity

Sometimes you want to say “we the bakers”, “we the employees”, “you the organizers”. Then you can put the pronoun in front of the noun to be very clear who is in the group.

• The noun is not in commas.
• The verb agrees with the pronoun (nosotros controlamos, vosotros decidís).

Self-check:

1. Who is in the group? We? → Nosotros + noun. You all? → Vosotros + noun.
2. Check the verb ending: -mos with nosotros, -is with vosotros.

6. “Ellos, los proveedores, …” → group in commas as extra information

With ellos, the group is not “we” and not “you (all)”. You can add a specific group name as extra information between commas.

• Ellos is the real subject and controls the verb: Ellos traen.
• los proveedores is in commas and does not control the verb.

Important:

• At the beginning of the sentence you can use ellos + comma + noun.
  • Ellos, los camareros nuevos, están muy nerviosos.
• Do not write:
  • Ellos los proveedores traen la harina. (missing commas, looks like one subject)
  • Ellos los proveedores trae la harina. (verb in singular = wrong)

Self-check with “ellos”:

1. Add commas around the extra group: Ellos, los X, …
2. Keep the verb in third person plural: Ellos traen, ellos están…

7. Step-by-step: how to rewrite “ellos / ustedes” to “nosotros / vosotros”

Use this mini algorithm when you do the transformations.

1. Identify the original subject: ellos / ustedes (+ any noun).
2. Decide the new group:
   • Include yourself? → nosotros.
   • Include your listeners? → vosotros (Spain).
3. Change the pronoun:
   • Ellos → Nosotros or Vosotros.
   • Ustedes → usually Vosotros in European Spanish contexts, or Nosotros if you now include yourself.
4. Change the verb to match the new pronoun and keep the same tense.
   • revisan → revisamos / revisáis
   • coordinaron → coordinamos (past) / coordinasteis (if you decide so).
5. Check adjectives:
   • Do not change them if the group noun does not change.
   • Change them only if you change the noun: los camareros nuevos → las camareras nuevas.
6. Keep or adjust commas:
   • Ellos, los proveedores, … → Vosotros, los proveedores, … (commas stay).
   • Nosotros los empleados… (no commas, because the noun is not extra info).

8. Quick final checklist

• 1. Who is included?
  • If “we” → nosotros.
  • If “you all” listeners → vosotros (Spain).
  • If neither → ellos / ustedes.
• 2. Verb endings consistent?
  • nosotros → verbs in -mos.
  • vosotros → verbs in -áis / -éis / -ís.
  • ellos / ustedes → verbs in -n.
• 3. Adjectives match the noun?
  • Check gender and number with the group noun, not with the pronoun.
• 4. Commas used correctly?
  • Extra information after ellos / vosotros / nosotros → usually between commas: Ellos, los proveedores, …
  • Identification without contrast → often no commas: Nosotros los panaderos…

If you can follow these steps without hesitation, you are ready to use nosotros, vosotros, ellos naturally in conversation and to shift the point of view in real-time.