I don't understand when to use "ello" or "eso"

Question

Okay, I know there was a similiar question about this, but after reading that, I still don't quite understand it. Is "ello" a formal way of saying "that" and "eso" an informal way? ¡Por favor, me hace confudida! ¡Le doy gracias por su ayuda!

Answer 1

Is this the thread you read, June10? ello, ¿cuando se usa?

Have a look, Jack. Lazarus mentions that "ello" is so formal that it is hardly used in spoken Spanish:

"Ello" is gradually being displaced by "eso" in Spanish, and it wouldn't be surprising if it disappeared eventually.

and Nilo45 gave many examples from the dictionary that included the indication "formal"

Si, yo uso "ello cuando se usa?" Le doy gracias por su ayuda! - june10, DIC 5, 2009

Answer 2

eso means 'that' whilst ello is a pronoun for 'it'

I may be totally missing something, but I don't think it's an informal/formal thing.

Ok, gracias! - june10, DIC 4, 2009

Answer 3

Janice said:

Lazarus mentions that "ello" is so formal that it is hardly used in spoken Spanish

I'm glad you looked into this, Janice. I was wondering why I've never seen "ello" in any of my studies.

Oh, I understand now! Gracias! - june10, DIC 5, 2009