Formal Ud. Uds. How often are they most likely used?

Question

While studying in the reference section of personal pronouns, I came across Ud. and Uds. which are singular formal. Is this a common one used by people in all places? And how would they be used in a sentence? If know to ask someone, ¿Cómo estás? How would I word it if say, addressing the President of the U.S., in the formal command? It sounds funny and feels uncomfortable to me. Is this something anyone has used'

Answer 1

Only Ud. is singular, formal. Uds. is plural, formal. Rather than think of it as

Answer 2

Calvo and Ian, exactly what I needed to see. I wanted them used in a sentence. I should have known from my lessons, but seeing it in Ud. and Uds. threw me. Thank you very very much.

Ian Francis Hill said:

Hi WendyUd = Usted (singular formal)UDs = Ustedes (plural formal)Here in Bolivia the Ustedes is also used as the plural informal.I think in Spain they use Vosotros for the plural informal BUT all those conjugations are not used here.If you don't know someone you use the formal singular or plural¿Cómo esta? singular formal for Usted or ¿Cómo están? plural formal for Ustedes.I think the Vosotros plural informal used in Spain is ¿Cómo Estais? ( I´m not sure )I hope this helpsThe ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo está? and ¿Cómo están? are all used everyday. ¿Cómo está Mr President'Regards Ian

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Answer 3

Hi Wendy
Ud = Usted (singular formal)
UDs = Ustedes (plural formal)
Here in Bolivia the Ustedes is also used as the plural informal.
I think in Spain they use Vosotros for the plural informal BUT all those conjugations are not used here.
If you don't know someone you use the formal singular or plural except to a child or children.
¿Cómo esta? singular formal for Usted or ¿Cómo están? plural formal for Ustedes.
I think the Vosotros plural informal used in Spain is ¿Cómo Estais? ( I´m not sure )
I hope this helps
The ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo está? and ¿Cómo están? are all used everyday. ¿Cómo está Mr President?
Regards Ian

Answer 4

You would use Ud. and Uds. the same way you would use él and ellos. They look just like third person, and the verbs are conjugated the same way.

Talking to a friend: ¿Cómo estás?
Talking to Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama: ¿Cómo está Ud.?
Talking to both Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama together: ¿Cómo están Uds.?

You could also write out the words (usted and usteds).

Answer 5

Great response "Quentin". I never thought about it a "polite". I believe this is a better method to explain the "formal".
At Thanksgiving this year, I was with very good friends at a informal gathering. At the table, during diner, Usted and Ustedes (and the proper verb conjugations) were used a lot. -- this was bieng polite