The Difference Between Tú and Ud.
A lot of my students inquire about the difference between Ud. and tú. Perhaps a little explanation is in order.
The "Ud." is short for "usted" and is used as a formal subject pronoun when referring to someone in the second person. In English, we always refer to someone in the second person as "you". We can refer to either the Pope, President, grandparents, our boss, or kids on a playground as "you" without offending anybody. In Spanish, it isn't like that. There are 2 ways to refer to someone as "you": familiar and formal. it's important to know this just so you don't run the risk of offending anybody!
I guess to say it'll offend someone is a little too harsh. In my best comparison it's similar to asking your boss, "What's up dude?" upon arriving to work instead of something more light and courteous like "How are you?" or even "Hey, Mr. O'Brien." It's a built-in language function designed to introduce formality and politeness in a professional or respectful manner.
¡Buena suerte con sus estudios!
The "Ud." is short for "usted" and is used as a formal subject pronoun when referring to someone in the second person. In English, we always refer to someone in the second person as "you". We can refer to either the Pope, President, grandparents, our boss, or kids on a playground as "you" without offending anybody. In Spanish, it isn't like that. There are 2 ways to refer to someone as "you": familiar and formal. it's important to know this just so you don't run the risk of offending anybody!
I guess to say it'll offend someone is a little too harsh. In my best comparison it's similar to asking your boss, "What's up dude?" upon arriving to work instead of something more light and courteous like "How are you?" or even "Hey, Mr. O'Brien." It's a built-in language function designed to introduce formality and politeness in a professional or respectful manner.
¡Buena suerte con sus estudios!
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