Él no soy yo
Could someone tell me what “Él no soy yo” means please? Is it a poetic way of saying “I am not him”, as opposed to “Yo no soy él”?

Google translate says it means “He is not me”, but surely that would be “Él no es yo”?

¡Gracias!

Question

Él no soy yo
Could someone tell me what “Él no soy yo” means please?  Is it a poetic way of saying “I am not him”, as opposed to “Yo no soy él”?

Google translate says it means “He is not me”, but surely that would be “Él no es yo”?

¡Gracias!

Answer

There is definitely a context where we can write "Él, no soy yo" that is a way to say "Yo no soy él", typically used in literature, so maybe you've read it in a novel or a poetry. It means "That person (He), is not me"

https://www.italki.com/spanish

Answer

This is gramatically/semantically/logically wrong so let's see some possibilities for the correct version:
"Él no es yo" =He's not me. (Maybe the person got confused and mixed them all up)
"Él, no soy yo"= As in A: Who's bothering me? B: Él, no soy yo.
"el no soy yo"= As in: el "no soy yo" la del problema es un claro ejemplo de inmadurez.

Saludos!