Encontraron

Question

I overheard my Spanish colleague that he kept saying over the phone ¿encontraron?. I asked him what did that mean. He explained it meant "Could you find them?". I think "encontraron" is third person plural past tense so it would mean "they found ....". Could some one explain in terms of Spanish grammar as to why or how ¿encontraron? could mean ""Could you find them?". Thanks

Answer 1

It is 3rd person plural preterite (ellos/ellas). It's also 2nd person plural preterite (ustedes). It could mean, "Did they find?". It could also mean, "Did you (all/guys) find?". It depends on the context, which I assume the person on the other end of the phone knew.

Kevin thanks for your quick reply which makes a lot of sense. However I thought the 2nd person plural preterite (ustedes) for encontrar is "encontrasteis". Please clarify. - Brandonzin, Nov 8, 2010

"encontrasteis" is 2nd person informal plural preterite (vosotros). For ustedes it is "encontraron". :-) - athegr8, Nov 8, 2010

Got it! thanks - Brandonzin, Nov 8, 2010

Bear in mind that vosotros is only used in Spain. Everywhere else ustedes is used for both formal and familiar 2nd person plural. - KevinB, Nov 8, 2010

Kevin thanks once again. No wonder I often heard my Spanish speaking colleagues in the US use the "usted" and "ustedes" form addressing each other. - Brandonzin, Nov 8, 2010

Tú is used for the 2nd person singular familiar in most places. Argentina and a few pockets in Latin America also use vos. Vosotros was derived as the plural of vos ( vos otros) long ago, Vos has been dropped in most places, as has vosotros outside Spain. - KevinB, Nov 9, 2010

Answer 2

In my experience with Spanish you don't really have the same structure as you do in English, "Did you...?" The question is implied by your tone. "¿Me pasas la leche, por favor?" literally means "You pass me the milk, please?" but the tone in which you use it turns the statement into a question.

Excellent point. You can't translate the words, you have to translate the meaning. - KevinB, Nov 8, 2010