One of the most dificult aspects of learning another language is knowing when to be formal or informal in conversation with somebody. Since in English "you" can be used to talk to your friends in an informal maner, or to your professor or boss in a formal way, you don't need to think much about using that particular pronoun. In Spanish, however, there is an important difference between using tú ("you" informal) and usted ("you" formal). When do you think you use "tú" in Spanish? With your friends or with your superior? Would you use "usted" with your mother? What pronoun would you use when talking to a salesperson? "Tú" or "Usted"?
While there is a common denominator of using "Usted" versus "Tú" in Spanish, there are important differences in the use of these two pronouns depending on what country or what city you are from. Listen to the following explanations of the use of "Usted" and "Tú" in our friends' countries.
tutear mostrar vosotros rango jerárquico hasta cierto punto esposo/a raro cuando era chico |
to use "tú" to show you all hierarchical level to a certain point husband/wife strange/different when I was a kid |