Let's talk about pronouns. In English, when we talk with someone we use the second person singular pronoun ‘you’. In Spanish, we have three different options for that same pronoun: tú, usted and vos. Which one we use depends on things like the relationship that we have with the person we are talking to or the place where we are. Generally speaking, we use usted when we want to talk in a more respectful way with someone:
¿Usted qué... qué me recomienda, doctor?
What do you... what do you recommend to me, Doctor?
Caption 14, Los médicos explican - El tratamiento de las fracturas
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However, if you are following the Colombian series Los Años Maravillosos, you have probably noticed that people usually use usted even when talking with family members or close friends. Why? That’s just how people speak in Bogota, Colombia:
¿Y a usted qué le pasa, mi hijito?
And what's going on with you, my little boy?
Caption 35, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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Regardless of its use, there is something quite unique about using usted: we conjugate usted as we would conjugate él (he) or ella (she):
Él trabaja entre las nueve de la mañana
He works between nine in the morning
Caption 48, La casa - De Chus
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¿Dónde trabaja usted?
Where do you work?
Caption 9, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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As you can see in the captions above, the conjugation of the verb trabajar (to work) with él (he) and usted (you) is exactly the same (trabaja), something that doesn’t occur with tú and vos:
Tú trabajas | You work
Vos trabajás | You work
Él/Ella/Usted Trabaja | He/She/You work
To wrap things up, we use usted as a second person singular pronoun. However, we conjugate it as a third person singular pronoun!
And don’t forget that this also occurs with the plural form ustedes (you all), which we conjugate as the third person plural pronoun ellos/ellas (they). Notice how ustedes and ellos share the same conjugation of the verb saber (to know) in the following captions:
Toda la vida he estado en el PAN, como ustedes saben, y he estado muy contento.
All my life I have been in PAN, as you know, and I have been very happy.
Caption 37, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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Ellos saben de los sitios que son hábitat de reproducción,
They know about the places that are reproduction habitats,
Caption 31, Instinto de conservación - Parque Tayrona
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That's it for now. If you want to learn more things about the use of tú, usted, and vos, make sure to check out our series about Tuteo, Ustedeo y Voseo. And don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
In one of our latest videos, Raquel tells us about a very traditional festival in Spain: The "Fallas." When she explains what these "Fallas" are, she uses an expression that is worth exploring:
Se trata de unas figuras de gran tamaño
It's about some large-sized figures
hechas de cartón y de madera.
made of cardboard and wood.
Captions 26-27, Raquel - Fiestas de España
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The verb tratar means "to treat," "to try" or "attempt," but also "to deal with" and, like in the previous example, "to be about." Let's review some examples to master this useful verb.
When tratar means "to treat," is used the same way as in English:
¿Podrías tratarlo un poco mejor a tu hijo, no?
You could treat your son a little better, no?
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto
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In Spanish, however, this verb has many different applications. For example:
Necesitamos tratarnos.
We need to get to know each other.
Caption 18, El Ausente - Acto 3
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Bueno, a Felipe he tenido el privilegio de tratarlo.
Well, I have had the privilege to know Felipe.
Caption 38, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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Encerrarlos y maltratarlos es una cosa muy cruel.
To lock them up and abuse them is a very cruel thing.
Caption 33, Kikirikí - Animales
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Para tratar a alguien de "tú",
To address someone with "tú,"
tienes que tener una cierta cercanía...
you have to have a certain closeness...
Captions 22-23, Fundamentos del Español - 6 - Tú y Usted
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Me gusta tratar con... con el público,
I like dealing with... with the public,
con las personas que vienen.
with the people who come.
Captions 22-23, El Instituto Cervantes - Jefa de biblioteca
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Just as, in English, you can't use the verb "to treat" to translate the previous examples, in Spanish you can't use the verb tratar to express an idea such as "to treat someone to something." Instead you have to use the verbs invitar or convidar (to invite, to share):
Ni siquiera te convidé un café.
I didn't even treat you to a cup of coffee.
Caption 55, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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Additionally, tratar can also mean "to try or attempt":
Pero en Andalucía varias iniciativas tratan de protegerlo.
But in Andalucia several initiatives attempt to protect it.
Caption 26, Club de las ideas - Batería de breves
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But don't ever try to use the verb tratar in the same way we use "to try" in expressions such as "try the food" or "try on the jeans." For that, Spanish uses another verb: probar. So, you must say prueba el pastel ("try the cake"), and me probé los pantalones ("I tried on the jeans") but never ever: trata el pastel or me traté los pantalones.
Tratar de (to try to) looks like tratarse de (to be about) but has a different meaning and it's not reflexive. Here is another example of tratarse de, using negation:
Ya ves que el juego no se trata de vestir mejor
You see that this game is not about dressing better
Caption 24, Hector Montaner - Apariencias
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These two examples are interesting. The same expression is used in Spanish, but English requires the use of different wording:
Es posible que alguna vez haya pensado usted,
It's possible that some time you have thought,
al escuchar el nombre del famoso arqueólogo
when hearing the name of the famous archeologist
Federico Kauffman Doig,
Federico Kauffman Doig,
que se trata de un investigador extranjero.
that he is a foreign researcher.
Captions 9-11, Federico Kauffman Doig - Arqueólogo
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Y más aún si se trata de ti
And even more so when it's related to you
Caption 7, Gloria Trevi - Cinco minutos
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Do you want to find more examples of the verb tratar in our catalog? You can use the search tool at the top of the screen in the Videos tab of our site to do so. Maybe you can find a use of tratar that we haven't discussed here. ¡Todo se trata de tratar, verdad?! (It's all about trying, right?). If you find some, tweet us @yabla or share them with us at support@yabla.com.
The Spanish verb caer means "to fall." Listen to what our artist friend Francisco tells us about a big coastal flood that took place in Venezuela a few years back:
Mucha madera cayó al mar.
A lot of wood fell into the sea.
Caption 13, Playa Adícora - Francisco
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When describing the tumble-down of a person, caer is very commonly used in the reflexive, caerse. Notice it when Venezuelan pop band Sondulo sings this line:
Si me caigo, me vuelvo a parar
If I fall, I stand up again
Caption 8, Sondulo - Que te vaya mal
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On the other hand, it is also possible to use caer when someone drops something.
¿Y en un momento se te cayó una birome al piso?
And at a certain moment you dropped a pen on the floor?
Caption 71, Cuatro Amigas - Piloto
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This is the same sort of “impersonal” (passive voice) construction that we saw in our lesson on olvidar. Literally, what the Spanish phrase is saying is that the pen fell and that this happened to “you.” (Spanish speakers will understand that you unintentionally dropped it.)
The reflexive verb caerse is conjugated in relation to the object dropped, the pen, not to the person who (unintentionally) dropped it. It is only thanks to the indirect object pronoun te that we know that it was “you” (tú) who dropped it. As a consequence, if we remove the pronoun “te” the meaning of the sentence will change:
¿Y en un momento se cayó una birome al piso? -Sí.
And at a certain moment a pen fell on the floor? -Yes.
We find the same construction when Mexican first lady Margarita Zavala talks about her husband, Felipe:
Felipe es un... muy buen papá.
Felipe is a... very good father.
Pues se le cae la baba por sus hijos, les toma fotos...
Well, he drolls over his children, he takes pictures of them...
Captions 16-17, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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Caérsele (a uno) la baba is an expression used to express deep fondness for someone or something. Literally, la baba means “the drool.” So the idea is that you like something so much it makes you drool (or “the drool falls”/”you drool”). Of course it’s an expression and native speakers do not think about it in literal terms.
Note that this “impersonal” construction is not used if someone drops something intentionally, in that case we look to the verb tirar:
Cuando vio la pistola, tiró el cuchillo.
When he saw the gun, he dropped the knife.
Keep your eye out for these and other interesting uses of caer when you tune into Yabla Spanish for your daily dose of authentic Spanish.
Did we mention Felipe Calderón is a politician? In Part 2 of the presidential candidate's promotional video, Calderón discusses his profound love for his family.
Y comparto con ella, pues, no solo el amor que nos tenemos, que es un amor sincero,
And I share with her, well, not only the love that we have for each other, that is a sincere love,
que es un amor profundo, que es un amor bello...
that is a deep love, that is a beautiful love...
sino también el amor que tenemos por nuestros tres magníficos hijos...
but also the love that we have for our three wonderful kids...
Captions 13-15, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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María... es... una niña muy linda...
Maria... is... a very pretty girl...
Luis Felipe... es un niño muy lindo...
Luis Felipe... is a very lovely child...
Juan Pablo... es una lindura...
Juan Pablo, two years old, is so beautiful...
Captions 19-24, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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He describes each one of his three kids -María, Luis Felipe and Juan Pablo- as lindo(a), meaning "pretty" or "beautiful." This synonym for bonito, hermoso or bello is an adjective that is used a lot in the Spanish-speaking world. See a baby on the street and "¡Qué lindo!" (or "¡Qué linda!") is a very common thing to say.
In the sentences quoted above, note that linda agrees with the feminine noun niña ("girl") and lindo agrees with the masculine noun niño ("boy"). Also note that Calderón employs the noun lindura ("a beauty") to describe his youngest son -a noun that's always feminine, despite his son's gender.
Another way the proud dad describes his tres magníficos hijos ("three magnificent children") appears in caption 18:
Bueno la verdad es que son tres chavos sensacionales.
Well the truth is that they are three sensational kids.
Caption 18, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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We translate this as: "Well the truth is that they are three sensational kids." But instead of repeating the standard word hijos ("kids" or "sons [and daughters]"), Calderón uses chavos, which is a colloquialism heard in Calderón's native Mexico as well as Honduras and Nicaragua, according to the authoritative Real Academia Española. Like hijos or niños, chavos means "kids," but not necessarily in the sense of sons and daughters. Got that, muchachos?
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