second person plural
the second person plural form of verbs does not appear to be used in latin american spanish any suggestions wht'
4 Answers
Your understanding is correct. Ustedes is commonly used in Spain as the plural of usted. The only difference from Latin America is that it is not used as the plural for tú, except by some people in Sevilla and maybe other parts of Andalucía.
That's my understanding, at least. Lazarus is a Sevillano, and he can correct me if necessary.
Following on from this question I was wondering if the ustedes conjugation is used in Spain. My understanding of Spanish is that tú and Vosotros are considered informal whereas Usted and Ustedes are considered formal. Therefore I just figured that in Latin America the Vosotros conjugation had fallen out of use. Of course if the Ustedes conjugation is not or never was used in Spain that kind of rubbishes my argument.
Assuming that "wht" is a typo for "why," the answer seems to be that this usage originated as a dialectical variety in Sevilla centuries ago. As fate would have it, most of the ships sailing for the Americas left from that city, and of course the crews were largely made up of men from Sevilla. They spread their language throughout the colonies, and that is why (or wht) we have what we have today.
Correct. Utilize the Ustedes form for the plural of Usted and Tu'.
