How to Say “You” in Spanish

Ways to say it

The various forms of "you" in Spanish serve as subject pronouns to identify the person being addressed.

Which one should you use?

The forms tú and usted differ primarily in their level of familiarity. tú is the common informal way to say "you," whereas usted is the formal way to say "you." Additionally, vos is used as an informal alternative to tú in specific regions.

Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?

Use tú for friends, family and peers. In contrast, use usted to show respect or maintain social distance when speaking to strangers, elders or authority figures.

Is it said differently in some regions?

The use of vos is common in some parts of Latin America, such as Argentina and Uruguay, as an informal alternative to tú.

Related words

The individual or group spoken/written to (det): tú, vos, usted.

To address using the more formal second-person pronoun (verb): ustedear, vosear.

How does it change in a sentence?

The verb conjugation used depends on the pronoun selected: tú requires second-person singular verb conjugations, while usted is grammatically treated as a third-person singular pronoun and requires third-person verb conjugations. For addressing a group, ustedes is used as the plural form of "you" in most Spanish-speaking regions, regardless of formality.

How do you pronounce it?

/ˈtu/

What mistakes should you avoid?

Do not confuse tú with tu. While tú with an accent is the subject pronoun "you," the word tu without an accent is the possessive adjective meaning "your."