Spanish subject pronouns are fewer than their English counterparts and are often dropped entirely, because verb endings already indicate who is performing the action. Yo means "I," Tú is the informal singular "you" (used with friends, family, and peers), and Usted is the formal singular "you" (used with strangers, elders, and in professional settings). Él and ella translate as "he" and "she" respectively, distinguished from the article el by an accent mark. For groups, Nosotros and nosotras mean "we" (masculine/mixed or all-female), Ellos and ellas mean "they" (masculine/mixed or all-female), and Ustedes is the plural "you," used for both formal and informal situations throughout Latin America.
Spanish has two verbs that both translate as "to be": ser and estar, and choosing the right one is essential because mixing them changes the meaning. Ser is reserved for permanent or inherent qualities such as identity, origin, and profession, as in Soy estudiante ("I am a student"). Estar handles temporary states, locations, and emotions, as in Estoy cansado ("I am tired"). Both verbs are irregular and must be memorized: yo soy, tú eres, él/ella/usted es, nosotros somos, ellos/ustedes son for ser, and yo estoy, tú estás, él/ella/usted está, nosotros estamos, ellos/ustedes están for estar. Note the accent marks on most forms of estar.
Spanish verbs fall into three conjugation families based on their infinitive endings. Regular -ar verbs like hablar follow the pattern hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablan. Regular -er verbs like comer follow como, comes, come, comemos, comen. Regular -ir verbs like vivir follow vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven. Learning these three patterns equips you to conjugate hundreds of verbs on your own.