Tutorial:Tú versus usted

In Section A, we learned how to say "How are you?", "Where do you live?", "Where are you from?" and "What is your name?" However, there is more than one way to say "you" in Spanish (and in the other Romance Languages, as a matter of fact!).

In Spanish, there are two ways of addressing an individual as you. In English, no distinction is made with regard to age or formality. In Spanish, however, this is a very common practice. If you are talking to a friend, you would use an informal tone of address, such as what you saw observed in the conversation between Rosa and Anita in Section A. This "you" is "tú" in Spanish and you saw and heard its use in Section A. (If you do not remember this, it would be a good idea to go back and review, as this is a very important part of the Spanish language.)

If you do not know someone, or do not know them well, you use a more formal tone of address. This word in Spanish for "you" is "Usted" (it is often abbreviated as "Ud." but still pronounced as "Usted"). A good rule of thumb is to never use "tú" until you are invited to do so.