Formal or informal forms with Spanish teacher? I'm an English speaker learning Spanish.&nbsp; I'm taking lessons with a Spanish instructor and a Spanish tutor online.&nbsp; When addressing them, shoul

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Jesse

Formal or informal forms with Spanish teacher?

I'm an English speaker learning Spanish. I'm taking lessons with a Spanish instructor and a Spanish tutor online. When addressing them, should I use the formal or informal forms? I want to be respectful, but I would also like to be friendly. I'm middle aged, if that matters.

Thanks for any advice.

Jesse

Jul 30, 2018 6:40 PM

Comments · 7

Hi, Jesse!

From my experience, it really depends on the country the teacher is from. I believe that, in most Spanish-speaking countries, the informal form is fully acceptable given the circumstances. I know there are a few countries where the formal form is the default and the informal form is used less, but for students, the informal form should be acceptable unless the teacher specifically requests the formal form. Hope this helps!

July 30, 2018

As has been mentioned it depends on the country. It also varies from person to person in terms of what they feel most comfortable using. In Spain they hardly ever use 'usted', it would be weird. As someone fluent in Spanish who has spent most of his time with native speakers from Spain I think I've used 'usted' about three times in my whole life. But then in some places, for example in parts of Colombia 'usted' is the normal treatment even for informal situations. If you're in doubt just ask them 'te puedo tutear?' I highly doubt that anyone will object to you using it but you can always double check if you want to be certain.

July 30, 2018

You have to get a feel for the situation, but 9 times out of 10 you would probably use the Tú form because online platforms tend to be less formal to begin with.

July 30, 2018

What Mr. Zhang said.

In Chile, you use "tú" with everyone you're not friends with, but in Ecuador, we normally use "usted" with people who are not our friends, unless we're talking to a child. However, some people feel old when addressed as "usted", so yeah, it's complicated.

July 30, 2018