use of usted - greetings

Question

Hi, just checking something out

If I was using "Cómo estás?" in a conversation that would be informal, right?

And "Cómo está?" can be used as formal?

Then, if I tag "usted" on the end of "Cómo está" (becoming "Cómo está usted") does it become more formal? If that's possible.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

Answer 1

It doesn't become more formal per se, because usted was already the tacit subject of the sentence. It does tend to emphasize that subject, because in Spanish the subject is generally omitted when it is already known.

I might say "¿Cómo está usted?" if there were a group of people and I were trying to get one person's attention (while gesturing or making eye contact to indicate who "usted" is). There are many other examples of why you would emphasize usted, as well.

Thanks for that, I understand now - Ryan, Aug 14, 2010

Answer 2

As answered above, adding the "usted" adds more emphasis to your statement. It doesn't have any effect on making the statement "more formal" however.