Learn Fluent Spanish

Learn Fluent Spanish - When to Use(YOU)the Informal and Formal way

You can learn fluent Spanish if you can distinguish when to use the informal "you" which is tú and the formal "you" which is usted. As a general rule, you should use usted when you are not sure which "you" to use because there are always exceptions.

Singular informal: tú
Plural informal: vosotros
Singular formal: usted
Plural formal: ustedes

The informal tú is used when you are speaking to members of your family, friends, children, close acquaintances and pet. Whereas, the formal usted is used when speaking to everyone else from service and government institutions to strangers on the street.

Keep in mind that the use of tú and usted may have subtle variations from different Spanish regions and countries. For example, in Columbia they use usted when speaking to family and close friends.

Knowing which form of "you" to use will facilitate your usage of corresponding words for "your", "yours" and "you" when it is not the subject of a sentence. In addition, Spanish has different verb forms for the formal and informal usages. The formal verb forms uses the same third-person conjugation of "he", "she" and "they". The informal verb forms uses the second-person conjugation.

Here are simple examples of how these pronouns might be used to show the different ways of saying "you" as the subject of a sentence (note: when speaking Spanish the pronouns would not be needed or used as the context would indicate who the subject of each sentence is) :

Pedro, ¿quieres tú comer? (Peter, do you want to eat?)
Anna y Juan, ¿queréis vosotros comer? (Anna and John, do you want to eat?)
Señora Gonzalez, ¿quiere usted comer? (Mrs.Gonzalez, do you want to eat?)
Señora Gonzalez y Señor Flores, ¿quieren ustedes comer? (Mrs. Gonzalez and Mr. Flores, do you want to eat?)

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