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Causing Offence in Spanish - Tu & Usted | ||
Tags: Polite/Informal Forms | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Juan M. Senior Member Colombia Joined 5901 days ago 460 posts - 597 votes  | Message 9 of 16 03 May 2009 at 4:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Here is a hilarious question about this topic in a Colombian forum, where an American asks if the form tú is to be used among men solely by homosexuals.
The advice offered there by native speakers should be useful, but note the atrocious spelling and grammar of some of the posters and DO NOT imitate it. Edited by JuanM on 03 May 2009 at 5:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5925 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 10 of 16 03 May 2009 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
In a lot of Spanish speaking countries people will often change from tu to usted when they are having an argument with someone or telling someone off - children and dogs included! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6896 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 16 03 May 2009 at 7:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'll just weigh in to support what has already been said by many. Yes, it depends on what country, what social context, what kind of people etc. If you have any doubt at all, with "usted" you will always err on the side of safety, and on the side of the smaller embarrassment. With animals, or small children for that matter, it's safe to use "tu".
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| furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6474 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian | Message 12 of 16 05 May 2009 at 11:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
I thought it was safe to use "tú" for the "generic you" even when addressing somebody whom you'd normally address as "usted", though. ("Usted" cannot be used for the "generic you", but as The Biscuit said, you can opt to use "uno" instead.) Of course, it really helps if context makes it perfectly clear that you're using the "generic you". - Kef Edited by furrykef on 05 May 2009 at 11:15pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6896 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 13 of 16 05 May 2009 at 11:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There it is not so much a question of it being safe or not. Tú is not really a good way to express the English generic "you". It might well be in use at some colloquial register levels in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, especially where they have had extensive exposure to English, but it would sound strange and out of place in many other parts.
As you say, one can use "uno" = one: "Uno puede usar 'uno' para esto", but that can sound rather formal and contrived. As a good all-round solution you can use the impersonal reflexive construcion: "Para esto se puede usar el reflexivo impersonal." That is valid everywhere. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ajijic10 Diglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6917 days ago 161 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 14 of 16 07 May 2009 at 4:08am | IP Logged | |||||
That's an interesting point. I'm currently reading a book originally written in English and translated into Spanish. The "tú" form is used extensively in the manner of the generic or impersonal "you". I'm pretty sure it was translated by a Mexican Spanish speaker. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5925 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 15 of 16 08 May 2009 at 8:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
Tú is used (in Mexico) by and between young people as the generic you but when more formality is called for then uno is used. Using usted then tú for the generic form sounds like you're changing register unless you're singling out a particular person in a group conversation. Say you have a conversation including the abuela, aunties and some kids. If you're generalising to everyone then you'd need uno but if you turn to one of the kids and generalise you could switch to tú. A tip for females: if you have problems with unwanted attention, insist on usted even if the guy is using tú - this is a subtle way to let them know you're not interested. Edited by TheBiscuit on 08 May 2009 at 8:14pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| elcastellano Newbie United States Joined 5681 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes | Message 16 of 16 08 May 2009 at 8:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In my experience we just use tú and vosotros. Now I would use usted/ustedes if I was addressing the royal family, the presidents family, on trial etc. But you get the point. I grew up in the US so I really dont know how they do it all over spain. I always heard tú in my family. Now with mexicans Ive heard Ud. alot and obviously, Uds. But with my teachers, mainly, my professors who are way older than me, I use Ud. I use tú with my grandparents. But now that I think about it, I do use Ud. with old relatives who Im not close with. But hope that helps you. Oh real quick, the relationship with God/Jusús is a close personal one so you use tú in prayer. And Ive only been to Spanish churches a couple of times. so the jurys out on that one.
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