La gramatica- grammar
Formal or informal?
In English, we have only one word: YOU. This English word can refer to many
different people in many different contexts.
For example:
 When talking to your brother: ‘Hey- can you please pick up your wet
towel?’
 When talking to your classmates: ‘Do any of you have the notes from
yesterday’s class?’
 When talking to the principal of your school: ‘How are you doing, Sir?’
 When talking to the manager of the bank: ‘Can you please help me to open
a new savings account?’
In Spanish, there are several different words for addressing someone as ‘you’.
The word for ‘you’ may change, depending on the relationship you have with the
person with whom you are speaking. It depends if your relationship is formal or
informal.
The word for ‘you’ also may change, depending whether you are talking to only
one person (singular) or more than one person (plural).
Finally, the word for ‘you’ may change if you go from Spain to another Spanishspeaking country.
‘You’ in the singular-
If you are talking to one other person, you have a choice between ‘tú’ or ‘Usted’
to express the word ‘you’.
If your relationship with the other person is informal, you would use ‘tú’.
Typically, you would use ‘tú’ when speaking to someone with whom you are on a
first-name basis, or a little child.
For example:
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Your little sister
Your best friend
Your classmate
A good colleague
If your relationship with the other person is formal, you would use ‘Usted’.
Typically, you would use ‘Usted’ if speaking to someone who is a complete
stranger, someone who is in a position of authority, someone who deserves a lot
of respect (particularly those who are older) or someone with whom your
relationship is purely professional.
For example:
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Your teacher
Your 75 year-old neighbour
The clerk at the grocery store
The person sitting next to you on the bus
‘You’ in the plural
When speaking to more than one person, you may still need to determine the
level of formality of your relationship. You also need to be mindful of where you
are in the Spanish-speaking world.
*Spain
*In Spain, ‘vosotros’ means ‘you’ in the plural informal. If you were talking to a
group of females, you could use the feminine form ‘vosotras’.
*In Spain, ‘Ustedes’ means ‘you’ in the plural formal.
In all other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural of both ‘tú’ and ‘Usted’ is the
word ‘Ustedes”. Note that you can use this for both formal and informal plural.