Register: tú vs usted

Two ways to say «you»: Spanish has two ways to address one person: «tú» is informal, for friends, peers and family; «usted» is formal, for strangers, elders, people in authority and business. This is called register — the level of formality you choose for who you're talking to. Crucially, «usted» takes the «él/ella» verb form, not its own ending, and uses «su / le» where «tú» uses «tu / te».

el registro

register — the level of formality (formal vs informal)

tú

informal you — friends, peers, family

usted

formal you — strangers, elders, authority, business

vosotros / vosotras

informal you (plural) — used in Spain

ustedes

formal you (plural) in Spain; all of you everywhere in Latin America

el trato

the form of address — whether you use tú or usted with someone

It's a band descriptor: Choosing the right register and keeping it consistent is a marked criterion. A formal letter that slips into «tú», or a chat with a friend that goes stiffly into «usted», costs marks. Decide the register from the audience before you write the first word.

What changes with each: Switching register changes more than the pronoun. «usted» borrows the «él/ella» verb form and swaps the possessives and object pronouns. Get the whole set right and your register stays consistent.

Usted = the él/ella form: The single most useful rule: «usted» uses exactly the same verb form as «él/ella» — «usted habla», «usted tiene», «usted puede» — and pairs with «su» and «le», never «tu» or «te». If you can do «él/ella», you can do «usted».

Read the audience and the text type: The register comes from who you're addressing and what kind of text it is. A letter to a company is formal; a message to a friend is informal. Here are the cues that tell you which to pick, each with a Spanish example.

Decide before you start: Pick the register from the task instructions before writing: una carta formal signals usted; un mensaje a tu amigo signals tú. Once you've chosen, you must keep it the whole way through — that's where the next section comes in.

The same request, two registers: Here is the same favour written twice — once informally to a friend (tú), once formally to a company (usted) — so the contrast is visible side by side. Watch the verb form, the possessive («tu/su») and the pronoun («te/le») all shift together. Tap Ver traducción or 🔊 to hear it.

Change all three together: When you switch from tú to usted, change everything at once: the verb (puedes → puede), the possessive (tu → su) and the pronoun (te → le). Changing only one is the classic slip that breaks consistency.

The slips to watch for: The two biggest register mistakes are mixing tú and usted in one text (you must stay consistent) and getting the possessive or verb wrong with usted (it needs «su» and the él/ella form, not «tu» or the «tú» ending). Compare the right version with the typical mistake.

Pick one register and stay there: Before you hand in: scan the whole text and check every verb, possessive and pronoun matches the same register. If you started formal, there should be no «tú», «tu» or «te» anywhere — and vice versa. Consistency is what the marker is checking.