Chapter 1.6
Formal and familiar "YOU"

Switching from the Formal to Familiar “you”

Spanish has 2 different pronouns for you — tú and usted.

You can use only informal you (tú) if you ask one of these question:

• ¿Puedo tutearle?

• ¿Puedo llamarle de tú?

If they answer yes, you don´t need to use "usted".

Sometimes, people do not want you to use usted to address them. These are some of the phrases you might hear them say:

• No me trates de usted. (Don't treat me as an "usted".)

• Dime de tú. (Call me "tú".)

• Trátame de tú. (Treat me as a "tú".)

• Por favor, tutéame. (Please, use tú. — Non-literal translation)

• Puedes tutearme. (You can use tú. — Non-literal translation)

• Puedes hablarme de tú. (You can talk to me as a "tú".)