When a preposition needs a pronoun after it — for me, with you, about her, between us — Spanish reaches for a special set that differs in two specific places from the subject pronouns you already know. Instead of yo and tú, Spanish uses mí (with a written accent) and ti (no accent). Every other person uses the same form as the subject pronoun: él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, ustedes. Then there's sí, the reflexive prepositional pronoun, used when the subject of the sentence is also the object of the preposition. The system is small, regular, and easy — except for the three prepositions that refuse to follow it. This page covers the full set, the unusual prepositions, and the most common errors.
The full paradigm
Spanish has one set of pronouns used after almost every preposition (para, de, en, por, sobre, contra, sin, ante, tras, hacia, hasta, según — well, según is one of the exceptions, see below).
| Person | Prepositional pronoun | Compare: subject pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | mí | yo |
| 2nd singular informal | ti | tú |
| 3rd singular masc. | él | él (same) |
| 3rd singular fem. | ella | ella (same) |
| 2nd singular formal | usted | usted (same) |
| 1st plural | nosotros / nosotras | same |
| 2nd plural informal | vosotros / vosotras | same (peninsular) |
| 3rd plural masc. | ellos | same |
| 3rd plural fem. | ellas | same |
| 2nd plural formal | ustedes | same |
| 3rd reflexive | sí | (no equivalent) |
In practice, the only forms that look genuinely new are mí, ti, and sí. Everything else is identical to the corresponding subject pronoun.
Este regalo es para ti, no para él.
This present is for you, not for him.
No quiero hablar de eso contigo, mejor con ella.
I don't want to talk about that with you — better with her.
Vivo cerca de vosotros, en el barrio de al lado.
I live near you (pl.), in the next neighbourhood over.
Estoy harta de ellos — me hablan como si fuera idiota.
I'm fed up with them — they talk to me like I'm an idiot.
The two crucial accents
The form mí (prepositional, first person) carries a written accent. The form mi (without accent) is the possessive adjective (mi casa, my house). They are pronounced identically but spelt differently — this is a textbook example of the tilde diacrítica, the accent used to distinguish homophones.
Para mí, mi familia es lo más importante.
For me, my family is the most important thing.
The form ti has no written accent. This catches learners constantly, because mí has one and the symmetry suggests tí should too. It shouldn't — and writing tí is a misspelling. The reason: ti doesn't need to be distinguished from any other word, so the accent serves no purpose. Mi has a homophone (mi possessive); ti doesn't.
A ti te toca lavar los platos esta noche.
It's your turn to do the dishes tonight.
The reflexive sí
When the pronoun after a preposition refers to the same person as the subject of the sentence, Spanish uses sí instead of él/ella/ellos/ellas. This is the reflexive prepositional pronoun, and it carries a written accent to distinguish it from si (the conditional "if").
Marta solo piensa en sí misma.
Marta only thinks about herself.
Los niños trajeron sus juguetes consigo.
The children brought their toys with them.
No habla más que de sí mismo, es agotador.
He talks about nothing but himself — exhausting.
You'll almost always see sí paired with the adjective mismo/misma/mismos/mismas (sí mismo, sí misma, sí mismos, sí mismas). The mismo is what makes the reflexivity explicit and distinguishes it from él — without it, piensa en él would mean "he thinks about him (someone else)."
| Non-reflexive | Reflexive |
|---|---|
| Piensa en él. (He thinks about him.) | Piensa en sí mismo. (He thinks about himself.) |
| Lo guardó para ella. (He kept it for her.) | Lo guardó para sí misma. (She kept it for herself.) |
The three contracted forms: conmigo, contigo, consigo
The preposition con contracts with the three special pronouns mí, ti, sí, producing three irregular forms. With every other person, con stays as con + pronoun: con él, con nosotros, con vosotros.
¿Vienes conmigo al cine?
Are you coming to the cinema with me?
Quiero hablar contigo un momento.
I want to talk with you for a moment.
Siempre lleva consigo una libreta pequeña.
He always carries a small notebook with him.
This is so distinctive it has its own page — see conmigo-contigo for the full treatment.
The prepositions that break the rule: entre, según, excepto, salvo, menos, incluso
A small but stubborn group of prepositions takes subject pronouns (yo, tú), not the prepositional set (mí, ti). The two A2-essential ones are entre (between) and según (according to). A few others (excepto, salvo, menos, incluso) behave similarly because they are syntactically more like conjunctions than full prepositions.
Entre tú y yo, no me gusta nada su novio.
Between you and me, I don't like her boyfriend at all.
Según tú, ¿cuál es la mejor opción?
According to you, which is the best option?
Todos vinieron a la fiesta excepto yo.
Everyone came to the party except me.
Incluso tú estarías harto si pasara esto.
Even you would be fed up if this happened.
The error of saying entre mí y ti is so common among English speakers that grammarians comment on it explicitly. The correct form is entre tú y yo — subject pronouns, never mí/ti after these prepositions.
What do the regular prepositions take?
Most prepositions take the standard set with mí, ti, sí in place of yo, tú, él/ella reflexive. Here are the common ones:
| Preposition | Example |
|---|---|
| para | Esto es para mí. |
| de | Estoy harto de ti. |
| en | Piensa en mí. |
| por | Lo hago por ti. |
| sin | No puedo vivir sin ti. |
| contra | Está en contra de mí. |
| sobre | Hablaron sobre nosotros. |
| hacia | Vino hacia mí. |
| hasta | Llegó hasta ellos. |
No puedo vivir sin ti, en serio.
I can't live without you, seriously.
Estoy harta de él — siempre llega tarde.
I'm fed up with him — he's always late.
Hicieron una fiesta sorpresa para nosotros.
They threw a surprise party for us.
The doubling pattern with a + prepositional pronoun
A common pattern with indirect objects: Spanish often doubles the clitic pronoun with a + prepositional pronoun for emphasis or clarification. Me gusta el café (I like coffee) emphasises to A mí me gusta el café (I like coffee — me, specifically).
A mí me encanta esa peli, pero a ti no te dice nada.
I love that film, but it does nothing for you.
A ella le da igual, a él le importa mucho.
She doesn't care, he cares a lot.
A nosotros no nos pareció bien.
It didn't seem right to us.
This emphatic doubling has its own page (emphatic-a-mi), but the prepositional pronouns mí, ti, él, ella, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas are precisely the ones used in this construction.
Comparison with English
English has a separate set of pronouns for object position (me, you, him, her, us, them) — and it uses them after prepositions too: for me, with you, about him. From an English-speaker's standpoint, Spanish mí, ti are roughly equivalent. The differences are:
- Spanish only changes form for first and second singular (mí, ti); third person and plural use the same form as the subject pronoun.
- Spanish has a dedicated reflexive prepositional pronoun (sí) — English has himself/herself/itself/themselves, which Spanish writes as sí mismo/misma/mismos/mismas.
- Spanish contracts con + mí/ti/sí into conmigo, contigo, consigo — no English equivalent.
- A handful of Spanish prepositions break the rule and take subject pronouns (entre tú y yo) — English has no such split.
The biggest transfer trap is the entre tú y yo rule: English speakers, taught that "between you and I" is hypercorrect (the correct English is "between you and me"), often overcorrect and produce entre tú y yo with the right pattern by accident. So the rule sometimes works in their favour without their realising it.
The yo and tú trap inside entre
A subtle case: entre can govern more than two pronouns, all subjects.
Entre tú, yo y Marta tenemos que decidirlo.
Between you, me, and Marta, we have to decide it.
Entre tú y yo, ¿qué te ha parecido la cena?
Between you and me, what did you make of dinner?
Notice that Marta is a proper noun and doesn't change form anyway — but the pronouns must stay as subject pronouns.
Common Mistakes
❌ Esto es para tí.
Incorrect — ti has no written accent.
✅ Esto es para ti.
This is for you.
❌ Entre mí y ti no hay secretos.
Incorrect — entre takes subject pronouns: tú and yo, not mí and ti.
✅ Entre tú y yo no hay secretos.
There are no secrets between you and me.
❌ Según mí, deberías esperar.
Incorrect — según takes subject pronouns: yo, not mí.
✅ Según yo, deberías esperar.
According to me, you should wait.
❌ ¿Vienes con mí al cine?
Incorrect — con + mí contracts to conmigo.
✅ ¿Vienes conmigo al cine?
Are you coming to the cinema with me?
❌ Marta solo piensa en ella.
Ambiguous — sounds like Marta thinks about another woman. Use sí misma for the reflexive reading.
✅ Marta solo piensa en sí misma.
Marta only thinks about herself.
❌ Todos vinieron menos mí.
Incorrect — menos takes subject pronouns: yo, not mí.
✅ Todos vinieron menos yo.
Everyone came except me.
Key takeaways
- After most prepositions, Spanish uses mí, ti, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, ustedes, sí (reflexive).
- Only mí, ti, sí differ from the subject pronouns; everything else is identical.
- mí carries a written accent; ti does not. Writing tí is a misspelling.
- Sí is reflexive — used when the prepositional object is the same person as the subject. Almost always paired with mismo/misma/mismos/mismas.
- Con + mí/ti/sí contracts to conmigo, contigo, consigo.
- Entre, según, excepto, salvo, menos, incluso take subject pronouns (entre tú y yo, not entre ti y mí).
- The doubling pattern A mí me gusta... uses these prepositional pronouns for emphasis and clarification.
Now practice Spanish
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Conmigo, contigo, consigoA2 — Spanish has three special contracted forms when 'con' meets a pronoun: conmigo, contigo, consigo. These three are obligatory — *con mí, con ti, con sí are not Spanish — and they are leftovers from Latin that no other person uses.
- A mí me gusta: doble pronombre enfáticoA2 — Spanish routinely doubles indirect-object pronouns with an 'a + prepositional pronoun' phrase. Me gusta el café and A mí me gusta el café are both grammatical — but they mean slightly different things. Learn when the doubling is optional, when it's obligatory, and what it signals to a native speaker.
- Todos los pronombres personales: tabla completaA2 — The complete master reference of Spanish personal pronouns in their five forms — subject, direct object, indirect object, prepositional, and reflexive — with the peninsular vosotros/os column made fully visible.
- Pronombres personales sujeto: visión generalA1 — The full set of Spanish subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, ustedes) — what each one means, when to use it, and the peninsular split between vosotros (informal plural) and ustedes (formal plural).