usted

Usted is the second-person pronoun in Spanish used as a formal address. It derives from the old expression vuestra merced ("your mercy"), which over time was contracted to the single word usted. Today it functions as a polite form of "you" in direct address, in contrast to tú, which is informal.

Grammatically, usted is treated as third-person singular. Verbs take third-person singular endings (¿Cómo está usted?), and possessives and adjectives agree accordingly (su casa). When clitic pronouns are used, they follow the same patterns as third-person forms (lo, la, le, se). In the plural, ustedes uses third-person plural conjugation (¿Cómo están ustedes?).

Regional usage varies. In Latin America, usted is widely used as the default form in many contexts, with ustedes serving as the standard plural in most dialects. In Spain, tú and vosotros are used for informal address, while ustedes is reserved for formal situations and is increasingly common in some regional varieties for plural speech.

Sociolinguistic notes: The choice between tú and usted signals levels of familiarity, age, and social distance. In professional, educational, and service contexts, usted is the norm; using tú can be perceived as disrespectful or overly familiar in such settings. In writing, abbreviations such as Ud. or Uds. may appear in formal documents or forms.