Una pregunta sobre "tú," cuando usiendo (using ?) la llama de una persona.
¡Hola todos!
I noticed in mi tarea practica hoy, algunos del preguntas regarding verb tense were not what I expected.
Por ejemplo,
- Mi hermano Guillermo lee las tiras cómicas los domingos.
(use correct form of leer)
I thought it would be lees, because the question is being asked by Guillermo's brother, and so it would be an informal, singular form of the verb "leer." Sin embargo, en the answer section, it said the answer should be lee.
Otro ejemplo,
- Ernestito anda mucho en su bicicleta.
(use correct form of andar)
Otra vez, yo uso el informal singular version del verbo andar, "andas," pero estuvo (fue') incorrecto.
Mi pregunta es, ¿si hay es un nombre en una frase, usa el singular cortés?
Not so sure how correct my Spanish is in my questions, so here it is in English...
If, in a sentence, person is called by name, I should use the polite, singular version of the verb?
¡Muchas gracias!
19 Answers
Gracias Abraham,
Yo veo ahora.
Megustacaballos
example 5: the verb "lee" is correct, because is the third person of singular. (he)
yo leo
tú lees
él lee (mi hermano Guillermo)
nosotros leemos
vosotros leéis
ellos leen
Megustacaballos,
Gracias por haberme contestado. Me da pena no poder poner los accentos cuando escribo el idioma castellano. Por que estudias espanol? De vez en cuando viajas a un pais hispanoparlante? El 30 de este mes me voy para San Jose, Costa Rica y luego para Bocas de Toro, Panama. Hace un mes mi esposa y yo estuvimos en La Republica Dominica. Mi esposa ensena un clase que se trata de la politica de America Latina y por eso necesita viajar a menudo a varios paises de centro/sudamerica y el caribe. En julio nos encontraremos en Venezuela para aprender todo acerca de Hugo Chavez..
En cuanto a los accentos, pienso en comprar un teclado espanol y usarlo con mi laptop. Me encanta escribir en espanol y me gustaria hacerlo correctamente. Vivimos en San Diego, CA, una ciudad mas or menos biligue. Yo diria que la tercera parte de la gente aqui habla el castellano, o algo por el estilo. Visito Tijuana, BC al menos una vez a la semana para ir de compras y explorar. Sin enbargo, ultimamente ha habido mucho violencia entre la policia y los narcotraficantes. Anteayer hubo un tiroteo que duro 3 horas con muchos muertos. Hay que tener cuidado andando en TJ ahora. Ojala que termine la violencia pero creo que eso no va a pasar. No se como van a solucionar el problema por que involucra tanto dinero.
Gracias otra vez y que tengas exito estudiando el idioma espanol y lamento no poder poner los accentos como un estudiante de espanol debe. Bob
SInce it seems the Voseo interests people...
this practice is based on the vosotros conjugation
so from
Vosotros hablais ---|> vos hablás
the a in hablais has the emphasis but as there is a dipthong ai the word is actually emphasized in the last but one syllable and does not require a written accent. When it drops the i, the diphtong disappears and the accennt is required to have the emphasis remain on the a.
in general the dropping of that i will give the voseo option
vosotros juntais ---|> vos juntás
vosotros hablais ---|> vos hablás (you're right Bob the a requires a written accent)
vosotros mereceis ---|> vos merecés
vosotros dormís ---|> vos dormís (here there is no i dropping for obvious reasons)
and there you have the three verb forms (-ar, -er & -ir)
and the irregular verbs are similar
vosotros sois ---|> vos sós
vosotros estais ---|> vos estás
etc.
I hope I haven't confused the issue too much.
as to your previous bit
yes 'Mi familia vive (its singular) en Placer COunty.'
and
Hay mucho que aprender.
&
Estoy estudiando por siete meses.
or
hace siete meses que estudio. (my preference)
¡Muchas Gracias Bob!
Hay es mucho a aprendar. Hago estudiendo por siete meses ahora.
There is so much to learn. I have been (') studyingfor 7 months now. I too, find I can read and understand quite a bit, but the speaking of it is coming along slowly.
Soy de California, Newcastle, pero ahora, vivo en Nueva Jersey. Mi familia viven (they live') en Placer County.
¡Gracias otra vez!
Somewhere on this site there is an explanation of how to get the accents on the letters...I'll try to search out the link.
In Spanish the tu form is used only when you are speaking directly to another person. A sentence describing two other people speaking to each other is always the third person form even though they familiar with each other. Whenever you hear tu or usted in speech you know that someone is looking at another eyeball to eyeball and addressing them. The also holds for vos in Argentina. When one person is directly addressing more than one person, you hear ustedes or vosotros (in Spain). So, when you are talking to a friend directly you use tu, or with a stranger or respected person (this is subject to regional variation) use usted. When you are describing two other people doing something use the third person, which by the way is the same verb form as usted, but you wouldn't use the usted pronown then.
tu hablas I'm telling you that you are speaking. (you know that tu as a pronoun needs an accent)
usted habla ditto except formal
vos hablas ditto Arg. (last a need accent)
Freddy habla mucho con jose (even though they're pals)
tu eres mi amigo
usted es mi amigo
vos sos mi amigo
note- you usually leave the pronoun out unless you want to be emphatic. Also I don't know how to put accent marks in on this computer. I think that the vos hablas needs one on the last a .
note- commands are always directed to another person or persons. So, they are always either tu, usted, vos, ustedes, or vosotros. Except now that I think of it, we can command ourselves as in vamanos. Maybe a Spanish grammar teacher can write in and correct me on that or anything else I've said here. Thanks and sorry about the no accent marks.
Tomar is the correct verb in this instance as it also means ocupar. you could have written "me ha tomado"
Well as an Argentine myself I always thought of our custom of using vos as a departure from strict Spanish, ie slang. this in part is because in Argentine schools it is not taught as a conjugation of any verb. Only "tú" and " usted" were taught and teachers would tell you "vos" was slang.
(historically it is simply a shortened version of "vosotros" with a slighty different verb conjugation to that of "vosotros" to account for the singular.
But if the DREA has accepted it, who am I to say otherwise.
¡Gracias Elguapo!
Corrections noted :o)
Megustacaballos
Hay haré (will be')
- Habra = there will be
Con palabras nuevas
- remember the 'las'
está necesito para mí a mira ella arriba
- es necesario para mi mirarlas (relating to las palabras)
y esto puedo
- puede
para mí a escribir qué quiero decir
- para mi escribir loque quiero decir
Por ejemplo, este párrafo tomado (took')
- it would be tomo, or tomaba, if indeed tomar is the right verb here
Just a few corrections i thnk i spotted , for assistance 
Hi, I am not surprised people used "usted" in the south, but don't take that as a "polite form", it is simply their custom. they sometimes even say. Vosotros ustedes son....
In other parts of the country though, Usted IS the polite form, but almost never applied . In Madrid, tu is used universally, even with elderly people. I don't agree with this at all, but it is the custom, and really, nobody wants to be impolite.
Voseo is an accepted form of speech. Check this on the DRAE
*vosear.
- tr. Dar a alguien el tratamiento de vos.*
you even get the correct conjugation of this verb.
¡Claro que sí, amigos!
It is better if I write in Spanish, then put my English version, is better while I am learning...
Hi Ricardo!
All the information you give about "tú" and "usted" is quite all right, especially that piece of advice about using "usted" until told otherwise.
I've lived in a lot of Spanish regions. In Andalucía (the South) my friends used to call me "usted", almost never "tú". They would also say "ustedes"... with the verb in the 2nd person plural!!! that is, "ustedes creéis" (don't learn that). Anyway, there are many other ways of using "tú" / "usted" all around the world.
In Spain, some decades ago, we used to call our parents and teachers "usted", but the youngest generations have lost all that (together with the respect due to their elders...)
Anyway, many people may start a conversation using "usted" and then the other person may say "tutéame, por favor", that is "start calling me tú". The equivalent situation in English would be telling someone to address you by your Christian name.
Finally, what I can't agree with is what you say next, that the Argentinian standard is slang or that it is incorrect Spanish. One cannot say that millions of Argentinians and people from other countries such as Uruguay, part of Bolivia and so on speak incorrect Spanish!
Correct me if I'm wrong
Saludos
OK. I just don't like the use of two languages in the same sentence. But if you then translate it into English, then it's fine.
... You don't have to tell me "with all due respect", we are all friends here, aren't we?
Saludos
another way you can thin about it is as follows:
tú and usted are second person pronouns. This means they are substitutes for the person you are talking to not the person you are talking about.
In your example'"Mi hermano Guillermo lee las tiras cómicas los domingos" the statement talks about Guillermo, ie you are not talking to him. THat is why it is lee.
if you were talking to him,
then you might have said:
Guillermo, Usted lee las tiras ...
or if you know him well
Guillermo, tú lees las tiras ...
the use of the formal Usted or the informal tú varies a lot from country to country, and sometimes from region to region.
I have heard children, even when quite old, addressing their father as Usted (Ud) instead of tú.
In some cultures you are not supposed to use the tú until given permission by the person.
If you want to play it safe you use the Ud with anybody you just meet until told otherwise.
However if the people are young (up to 30) they would never use the Ud among themselves, too formal.
to make things more complex you have a slang in Argentina, called voseo, which is even more familiar than the tú.
so instead of 'tú lees' they (we) say "vos leés''.
This last bit was just for fun and general information. it is actually incorrect Spanish although used throughout Argentina.
