ella
/ˈeʝa/
In Spanish, the English pronoun 'her' is ella.
ella is a pronoun used to refer to a female person or animal. It is used as a subject or following a preposition, such as in the phrase con ella (with her).
Which one should you use?
The masculine counterpart to ella is él (him).
How does it change in a sentence?
In many sentences, the pronoun ella is replaced by shorter, unstressed pronouns. When 'her' is the direct object of a verb, it is often replaced by la. When 'her' is the indirect object (for example, 'I gave her a book'), it is often replaced by le.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈeʝa/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not confuse the personal pronoun ella (her) with the possessive adjective su (her/his/their).
Did you know?
- In certain regional variations of Caribbean Spanish, the 'll' in ella is pronounced as a 'j' sound, making it sound more like eja.
- The word ella comes from the Latin word illa, which originally meant 'that one' or 'that woman' rather than just 'she'.
- In spoken Spanish, you will rarely hear the full word ella used as a subject because the verb ending usually makes it clear who is performing the action.
Examples in context
- La vi a ella.I've seen her.This sentence demonstrates the use of ella as an object.Tatoeba #7859474 by arh, translation #3909701 by CH
- Te vi con ella.I saw you with her.This sentence shows ella used after a preposition.Tatoeba #2246818 by Shishir, translation #2240421 by Hybrid
- Le hablé a ella.I talked to her.This sentence shows ella used to specify the recipient of an action.Tatoeba #1457694 by marcelostockle, translation #1457695 by CK
- Le presento a la Directora. Ella es muy amable.Allow me to introduce you to the Director. She is very kind.
- 2218 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are talking about a mutual friend.
- Daniel¿Dónde está María?Where is María?
- SofíaElla está en el cine.She is at the cinema.
- Daniel¿Vas a ir con ella?Are you going with her?
- SofíaSí, voy a verla ahora.Yes, I am going to see her now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ella, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ella, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
