what is the difference between su and tu

Question

would one student say to another

¿Te gusta su profesores? or ¿Te gusta tu profesores?

Answer 1

Lorenzo is right... It's tus profesores, or sus profesores...because " profesores" is plural. For that same reason, you would say "te gustan" .

Seeing that you are trying to understand the difference at its most basic level, "tu" or "tus" means "yours" when you are speaking in a friendly, informal way.

"Su" or "sus" means "yours" when you are using a more respectful tone and addressing someone as "Usted" or "ustedes". It also serves for "his" or " hers".

"Esta es su libro" can mean "this is your book/his book/her book." It must either be understood within the context of the conversation or clarified. For example, if you want to say "his book", you could say "Esta es el libro de él" to avoid any confusion.

I hope this helps. I'm not a native and there are probably others that can explain better, but recent posts by highly respected administrators have motivated me to offer help when possible.

thank you , that helped a lot. - fischerjen, Dec 14, 2011

Answer 2

The difference is that "su" is formal and " tu" is informal.

The "tu" form would be used when you know well the person you are talking to or someone who is younger than you.

The "su" form would be used if you do not know a person or are formally speaking to someone.

So it would probably be "te gusta" since the student is talking to another student. It would be everyday informal conversation. It's like saying "Hey, do you like your teacher?" vs. "Are you pleased with your teacher?"

Also, it would be "sus profesores" because "sus" is plural. - MeLlamoWaverly, Dec 14, 2011

And " te gustan" or "le gustan". - MLucie, Dec 14, 2011

te gustan because "te" is a form of "tu" - MeLlamoWaverly, Dec 14, 2011

Answer 3

After correcting the error regarding plurals, it would depend on what he was trying to say. . .one would probably be more common in many contexts, the other in others.

Answer 4

tu - your

tú - you

su - his/her/it/usted/their...

Answer 5

The difference is that "su" is formal and " tu" is informal.

This is true if you assume that the possessive pronoun is "your". In this case one student could also be asking, "Do you like his professors?" In which case it would be 'sus', informal or not.

True. But the context looks as if is "tu" to me. :) - MeLlamoWaverly, Dec 14, 2011

You beat me to it. - 0074b507, Dec 14, 2011

Of course I agree the context suggests your, it's just that it could also mean his or her. Just being thorough. - Jeremias, Dec 14, 2011

Answer 6

The difference could be one of formal vs informal use, but as lorenzo states, it depends on what is trying to be said.

¿Te gusta su profesores? or ¿Te gusta tu profesores?

¿Te gustan los profesores tuyos? ¿Le gustan los profesores suyos? is a formal vs informal question of how you are saying "you" and "yours".

But the sentence could also be:

¿Te gustan los profesores de ella/él? Do you like his/her teachers? Now we are not discussing formal vs informal use.

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