ÉL – HE

Él means “he” in English. 

Él is a pronoun. A pronoun is a word that substitutes the name of a person, an animal, or an object. 

Look!

● Carlos es mi hermano. (Carlos is my brother.)

● Él es mi hermano. (He is my brother.)

In the example above, él substitutes the name of a person.

Now, let’s see how él substitutes an animal.

● Si bañas a tu perro, él olera bien.

○ If you bathe your dog, it will smell good.

In English, the pronoun “it” is used to substitute animals.

In Spanish, él substitutes masculine animals and objects that are considered masculine. 

To learn about masculine and feminine objects visit the post Gender Rules in Nouns: Masculine and Feminine Nouns.