Capítulo 1 Lección B Estructura: Tú, Ud. Uds., Vosotros(as). Formal / Informal Capítulo 1 Lección B Estructura: Tú, Ud. Uds., Vosotros(as).
Differences between English and Spanish Unlike English, formalities are inherent in the Spanish language. For example, there are two main ways to say the English pronoun “you” in Spanish: tú and usted. tú = informal (casual). usted = formal (polite). They both mean you!
Formal vs. Informal Formal = polite; the person typically has a title like Sr., Sra., Dr., etc. You are also formal with people older than you. Informal = casual; you know the person on a first name basis. You’re likely acquaintances or friends. You can also be informal with people younger than you.
How would you address these people? (Tú vs. Usted) Dr. Gonzalez usted
How would you address these people? (Tú vs. Usted) Fernando tú
How would you address these people? (Tú vs. Usted) Marisela tú
How would you address these people? (Tú vs. Usted) Sra. Jiménez usted
How would you address these people? (Tú vs. Usted) Sr. Presidente Obama usted
Singular vs. Plural Both tú and usted are singular pronouns. In most Spanish speaking countries, the plural version for both tú and usted is the same: ustedes. We use ustedes when we’re talking to a group of people directly. There is no English equivalent for this pronoun. For example…
Tú, Usted, and Ustedes When a teacher talks to a group of kids, she would refer to them as… ustedes.
Tú, Usted, and Ustedes When a teacher talks to a group of adults, he would refer to them as… ustedes as well!
Formal vs. Informal In most Spanish speaking countries, ustedes is considered both formal and informal. However, in Spain it’s a little different.
En España In Spain, they make a distinction between formal and informal even with the plural you’s. The informal plural “you” in Spain is vosotros (or vosotras if it’s all girls). The formal plural “you” in Spain is ustedes. For example…
En España… When a Spaniard teacher refers to a group of kids, she would say… vosotros.
En España… If they’re all girls… vosotras.
En España… When a Spaniard professor refers a group of adults, he would say… ustedes.
Solamente en España Remember that this is only in Spain! Most of the Spanish speaking world uses “ustedes” as the plural form of both tú and usted. There are other exceptions, like Argentina, but we’ll get to that another time.
The ways we say “you” Singular Plural Informal tú ustedes vosotros (Spn) vosotras (Spn) Formal usted
Abbreviations Usted = Ud. Ustedes = Uds.
¿Preguntas?
A practicar Ok, let’s put this into practice. Activity 9, p.22 Activities 10 and 11, p. 23. We’ll go over these in a few minutes.