This is probably really simple but I keep getting confused by which form I’m meant to use. Do I match it to the person I’m talking about or do I match it to the gender of the noun? And which part of the sentence do I use to determine whether I use the singular or plural?
For example “Le mando notas” means I send him notes. What about a singular note? If I’m sending her notes does it become la? If I was sending them notes would it be las or les? If notas is feminine why don’t I use la?
Is there a simple way to remember whatever the rule is? Thanks!
Omg, you just fixed Spanish for me!! Thank you!
I’m from the UK and want to learn European Spanish but duo uses “usted” so I tend to drop the pronoun(?) and start the sentence with the “you” verb form. But it makes so much more sense when I add the I/you/whatever and the “the”.
Would it be correct to think of “send” as “le mando” rather than just “mando” when I’m talking about an action + object? I don’t know why my brain needs it that way 🤦🏼♀️
No problem! 😎 I’m Mexican American so I can’t help you with Spanish Spanish but what’s wrong with Usted? It’s just a formal/polite way of saying “you”. Granted, I never use it, but it’s a common thing people say.
Also, in Spanish the infinitive form of a verb ends with -ar or -er (or whatever else idk). So “to send” = “mandar”, “to eat” = “comer”, “to write” = “escribir”, etc. I dunno what you mean by action + object but as long as you can remember the word and conjugate it correctly in a sentence then I don’t think it matters. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In European Spanish “usted” is extremely formal. You’d use it talking to a judge, the pope, royalty. It’s not really used in everyday language and it would definitely sound odd to a Spaniard.
Spaniards use “tú” for “you” and “vosotros” for you plural (you all). “Vosotros” is more informal than “tú”. When using vosotros verbs conjugate like this:
Hablar -> habláis Comer -> coméis Vivir -> vivís
From what I understand vosotros isn’t taught at all in America because it’s practically unheard of in Latin America. But vosotros is is an essential part of your vocabulary if you’re speaking Spanish in Spain or talking to a Spaniard. You can make yourself understood by using usted, but you won’t sound like a native.
From the other comments what I was trying to say with object + action was “(in)direct object pronouns”. Not knowing the grammatical terms in English is definitely not helping me learn Spanish grammar, but hopefully the book redtea recommended will help me with that!
Thank you again for your help!
Actually, they did teach us vosotros in the US, at least for me. It was very annoying because there were literally 0 Spaniards in my class or neighborhood. Everyone who spoke Spanish was Latine, but they made us learn grammar that we’d never use anyway.
In Latin America, Usted is used in the situations you described in addition to talking with strangers, your boss, a cop, or anyone else you want to suck up to. But using tu instead isn’t a big deal I mean, I always use it.
P.S. I think you’re mixing up “tu” with “ustedes”. Because vosotros definitely can’t replace tu hehe
P.S.S. I edited my original comment. It’s either more confusing or less now, who knows
That’s interesting - and it sounds very frustrating!How long ago were you at school?
I was confusing tu and usted - my brain hurts! I don’t know if you speak French as well but the rules are very similar - tú/tu is informal, usted/vous is formal but if you only knew the formal version it wouldn’t be a problem, you’d just sound overly polite and a bit stiff. Usted in European Spanish is like saying your honour/highness in English. It’s so ridiculously subservient you’d never use it. But you can’t speak Spanish in Spain without knowing vosotros - it’s frustrating that it isn’t included at all in duolingo and 95% of language learning apps.
I’m going off on a tangent now but the most ridiculous thing about duolingo is it’s instance on using soccer instead of football. I practice French and Ukrainian as well as learning Spanish on duolingo and in any language if you translate football/футбол (futbol)/fútbol as “football” it’s marked as incorrect. It will only accept “soccer” 😂 I understand not teaching vosotros if it’s only used in one country but literally the rest of the world call football, football!
I haven’t read your edited comment yet, I’ll save it for when my brain is less muddled. Thanks again, you’re a star!
I took those Spanish classes about ten years ago? They’re required in many school districts, even for students who already speak the language (my school offered advanced classes for us but I don’t know what was different about them).
I don’t speak French but I see what you mean. Usted isn’t THAT formal in LatAm Spanish lol. But it’s very weird that Duolingo doesn’t teach Spainish because that’s the form that’s generally considered more “official”. I’m guessing that it’s because Duolingo is an American company. It’s probably why they use soccer too.
And thanks for the compliment uwu