I am teaching an Argentine friend English. He's learning well so far, and already speaks a little bit. He also is teaching me Spanish. I already speak it (brokenly) and it's better than his English. We learn together, it's fun.Today he learned "to

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Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 11:18:30 No.627

I am teaching an Argentine friend English. He's learning well so far, and already speaks a little bit. He also is teaching me Spanish. I already speak it (brokenly) and it's better than his English. We learn together, it's fun.

Today he learned "to be" in English. He doesn't understand the "you"/"you guys" thing for "ustedes" very well. He already understands that there is no "usted" in English.

Advice, please?

-

Hola /lang/.

Estoy enseñando a un amigo argentino el inglés. Comprende bastante bien, y ya habla un poquito. Además, él me ensaña español. Ya hablo español (es bastante malo, ¿no?) pero es mejor que su inglés. Aprendemos juntos, es divertido.

Hoy aprendió el verbo "ser" en inglés. No comprende muy bien "you"/"you guys" para la palabra "ustedes." Ya comprende que no hay "usted" en inglés.

¿Consejos, por favor?

Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 11:42:20 No.629

I don't know Spanish, but "ustedes" means "you" (plural), right? What's there to understand?

Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 13:43:06 No.631

do you mean he has a problem with the lack of you (singular) vs you (plural) distinction?
I can't see how it could be difficult

Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 16:26:59 No.634

From what I understand, "ustedes" is a formal pronoun. "You guys" is a fairly informal phrase in english. I live in Texas and when my Spanish teacher used it, thought it was very strange. This may not be the general view, though.

The best thing I can think of is to explain that without context, "you" is ambiguous. It can be either singular or plural. Kind of like it mean either "usted" or "ustedes" depending on the context.

Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 18:18:09 No.639

>>634
According to

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ustedes

Ustedes is considered formal in Spain but not in Latin America.

>Ustedes - Abbreviated Uds., ustedes is used to address a two or more people and can be formal or informal. Since most Central and Latin American countries do not use vosotros, Uds. is used in all forms of plural address and the corresponding verb is conjugated in the 3rd person plural form.

http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/13

>The best thing I can think of is to explain that without context, "you" is ambiguous.

That's how it's normally taught, I think. It's not that complicated…

Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 19:01:26 No.642

>>634

"Ustedes" is not formal at all, "vosotros" is the formal pronoun.

Just tell him that "ustedes" y "tu" are both translated like "you" in English. It's not that hard to understand.

Anonymous 03/01/15 (Sun) 20:49:25 No.645

> He doesn't understand the "you"/"you guys" thing for "ustedes"

He must be half retarded…