Tú or usted; vosotros or ustedes

English has one word for "you". Spanish chooses between a friendly form and a polite form, and between one person and several.

When to use tú

Use tú with friends, family, children, classmates, people your own age and anyone who uses tú with you. In Spain, tú is very widespread: young people, colleagues and many shop or bar staff use it from the start.

• ¿Eres de aquí?Are you from here? (tú)

When to use usted

Use usted to show respect or distance: with older strangers, officials, a doctor you don't know, in a formal letter, or whenever the other person uses usted with you.

• ¿Es usted de aquí?Are you from here? (usted)
• Perdone, ¿es usted el señor García?Excuse me, are you Mr García?
• Muchas gracias, es usted muy amable.Thank you very much, you're very kind.

Not sure? Start with usted. If the other person prefers tú, they will say so: Puedes tutearme (you can use tú with me). Tutear means "to use tú with someone".

• Puedes tutearme.You can call me tú.

The verb changes too

The choice changes the verb, not just the pronoun:

• tú has its own form: eres, estás, te llamas;
• usted takes the same form as él/ella: es, está, se llama;
• vosotros has its own form: sois;
• ustedes takes the same form as ellos/ellas: son.

So ¿Cómo estás? is friendly and ¿Cómo está usted? is polite. Because es or está alone could also mean "he is" or "she is", people often keep usted in the sentence for clarity. You can say ¿Usted es de aquí? or ¿Es usted de aquí?: both are correct.

• ¿Cómo está usted?How are you? (polite)

Plural "you" in Spain

In Spain, vosotros (or vosotras for an all-female group) is the friendly plural, and ustedes is the polite plural.

• Chicos, ¿sois de Madrid?Guys, are you from Madrid?
• ¿Son ustedes los padres de Lucía?Are you Lucía's parents?

Latin America

In Latin America, vosotros is not used. Ustedes is the plural "you" for everyone, from close friends to strangers. This course teaches vosotros because it is standard in Spain, but answers with ustedes are accepted whenever an exercise isn't specifically about Spain.

• Chicos, ¿ustedes son de Madrid?Guys, are you from Madrid? (Latin America)

The balance of tú and usted also varies: in Colombia or Costa Rica, for example, many people use usted even with friends and family, and in Argentina or Uruguay vos takes the place of tú.

Common mistakes

• Using the tú verb with usted: ¿Usted eres de aquí? Say ¿Usted es de aquí?
• Using usted for a group: for several people, the polite form is ustedes (with son).
• Using tú with an elderly stranger or an official in a formal setting: start with usted.
• In Spain, using ustedes with your friends sounds oddly formal (except in parts of Andalusia and the Canary Islands, where it is normal).