usted

Spanish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From vuestra merced (literally “"your mercy" (etymological) or "your grace" (idiomatic)”), an honorific style.[1] Compare with the Portuguese você.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /usˈted/, [usˈt̪eð]
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -eð

Pronoun

usted m or f (plural ustedes)

  1. second person formal; you (singular)
  2. (Colombia, chiefly Bogotá) second person informal; you (singular)

Usage notes
  • Functionally, usted and ustedes are second person pronouns, but grammatically, the verbs they govern are conjugated in the third person. See Appendix:Spanish pronouns for details.

See also
Spanish personal pronouns
nominative dative accusative disjunctive
first person singular yo me mí1
plural masculine2 nosotros nos nosotros
feminine nosotras nosotras
second person singular tuteo tú te ti1
voseo vos vos
formal3 usted le, se4 lo/la5 usted
plural familiar6 masculine2 vosotros os vosotros
feminine vosotras vosotras
formal/general3 ustedes les, se4 los/las5 ustedes
third person singular masculine2 él le, se4 lo él
feminine ella la ella
neuter ello7 lo/la5 ello
plural masculine2 ellos les, se4 los ellos
feminine ellas las ellas
reflexive — se sí1
  1. Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
  2. Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
  3. Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
  4. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g., Se lo dije instead of Le lo dije)
  5. Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
  6. Used primarily in Spain
  7. Used only in rare circumstances

References
  1. de Gonge, Bob (2005), “El desarrollo de las variantes de vuestra merced a usted”, in Actas del II Congreso de la Región Noroeste de Europa de la Asociación de Lingüística y Filología de América Latina (ALFAL), ISSN 1139-8736
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