You, you, you?
Am I correct in my understanding that: - Tú is familiar singular - Usted is formal singular - Vosotros is familiar plural - Ustedes is formal plural and that it seems in formal forms the conjugaison is using the 3rd person ending? As in usted comes y ustedes comen? Versus familiar form, tú come y vosotros comemos?
4 Answers
The verb conjugations are the same for him, her, and (formal) you (singular), and for them and (formal) you (guys). But you need to check the conjugations on that verb:
Tú comes
Él, ella, usted come
Vosotros coméis
Ellos, ellas, ustedes comen
The familiar plural form, vosotros, has fallen into disuse in many parts of the world.
I'll have to look up the etymology, but I was taught that the words ''usted'' and ''ustedes'' are shortened forms similar to ''your grace'' and ''your graces'', which are really a 3rd person sort of thing (he/her/them) vs. a 2nd person thing (you). This is supposed to explain why he, her, and the formal you have the same conjugation.
Kevin, your explanation of the origin of usted and ustedes makes perfect sense. So let's see if I'm correct: - tú familiar 2nd singular person - usted formal 2nd singular person but used as 3rd person in conjugation - vosotros abandonned - ustedes formal 2nd plural person but used as 3rd person in conjugation I think I got this right. Now a question. Since vosotros (familiar) is abandoned, is the conjugation (2nd form of plural) not used anymore and I will never hear i.e. coméis or do they still use it and only gave up on the pronoun? P.S. What is the Accept button for on this page?
Thank you Kevin. You can imagine my confusion only knowing that I am French, living in the U.S. for 20 years and learning Spanish for fun, just because a friend of mine is from Péru.
It's quite confusing, though nothing can beat French conjugaisons when it comes to being a mess.
Tú comes él ella usted come Vostros coméis Ustedes comen
