Tú vs Usted in Spanish: When to Use Each

Spanish has a familiar "you", tú, and a polite one, usted. The basic rule is simple: tú for friends, family and people your age, usted for strangers, older people and anyone you want to show respect. What makes it interesting is how much the habits change from one country to the next.

The quick table

	Tú	Usted
Who	Friends, family, children, peers	Strangers, older people, officials, clients
Verb form	2nd person: tú hablas	3rd person: usted habla
Object pronoun	te: Te llamo.	lo / la / le: Lo llamo.
Possessive	tu casa	su casa
Written short	–	Ud. or Vd.

The verb trick

Usted takes the same verb form as él and ella. That's because it comes from vuestra merced ("your grace"), which was talked about in the third person. So you don't need new endings, just the ones you already know:

• ¿Tú tienes tiempo? → ¿Usted tiene tiempo? (Do you have time?)
• ¿Cómo estás? → ¿Cómo está? (How are you?)

Use usted with

• People you don't know, especially older ones: Disculpe, ¿usted sabe dónde está el metro?
• Officials, doctors, customers and, in many places, your boss.
• Anyone you'd call "sir" or "ma'am" in English.

Use tú with

• Friends, family, children and pets.
• People your own age in casual settings.
• Anyone who has invited you to: Puedes tutearme. (You can call me tú.)

The verbs are tutear (to address someone as tú) and tratar de usted (to address someone as usted).

It depends on the country

Spain uses tú very widely, often with strangers in shops and bars. Usted is kept for older people and formal situations.

Mexico and much of Latin America use usted more often, especially with older people and in service situations.

Colombia and some other areas use usted even between friends and family, as a sign of closeness as well as respect.

Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Central America use vos instead of tú, with its own verb forms: vos hablás, vos tenés, vos sos.

The plural: vosotros and ustedes

In Spain, a group of friends is vosotros (vosotros habláis), and a group you address politely is ustedes.

In Latin America, ustedes covers every group, friends included: ¿Ustedes vienen esta noche? (Are you all coming tonight?)

If you're learning Latin American Spanish, you only need ustedes. You'll still want to recognise vosotros in books and films from Spain.

Test yourself

Choose tú or usted, then check below.

1. Asking an elderly man for directions.
2. Chatting with a classmate.
3. Talking to a doctor at your first appointment.
4. Talking to your sister.
5. Someone says Puedes tutearme.
6. Writing to a hotel to book a room.

Answers: 1. usted. 2. tú. 3. usted. 4. tú. 5. tú (they've invited you to). 6. usted.

Keep going

The usted forms are the same as the third-person forms in our Spanish present tense lesson, which has full tables and a quiz. For the other classic pairs, see ser vs estar and Por vs Para.

Reading dialogue is the fastest way to get a feel for who says tú and who says usted. Our Learn Spanish app takes you from vocabulary and grammar through graded reading to full classics with a translation under every line. It's free to download, though some books and extra content need diamonds you earn while learning, or Premium.