ustedes

Spanish

Alternative forms

• Uds., Vds., vds, VV., UU. (abbreviation)

Etymology

From usted.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /usˈtedes/ [usˈt̪e.ð̞es]

• Audio (Mexico):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -edes
• Syllabification: us‧te‧des

Pronoun

ustedes m pl or f pl (singular usted, dative les)

1. (formal in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, Philippines) you (plural)
2. (Latin America, US, Canary Islands, Western Andalusia) you (plural)

   Synonym: vosotros

Usage notes

• Functionally, usted and ustedes are second person pronouns, but grammatically, the verbs they govern are conjugated in the third person (in Western Andalusia and the Canary Islands ustedes may also be used with verbs in the second person plural, but this is colloquial and nonstandard). See Appendix:Spanish pronouns for details.

See also

Spanish personal pronouns

				Nominative	Disjunctive	Dative	Accusative	Comitative
First-person	Singular			yo	mí	me		conmigo
	Plural	Masculine1		nosotros		nos		—
		Feminine		nosotras
Second-person	Singular	Tuteo		tú	ti	te		contigo
		Voseo		vos	—
		Formal2	Masculine1	usted		le, se3	lo
			Feminine				la
	Plural	Familiar4	Masculine1	vosotros		os
			Feminine	vosotras
		Formal/general2	Masculine1	ustedes		les, se3	los
			Feminine				las
Third-person	Singular	Masculine1		él		le, se3	lo
		Feminine		ella			la
		Neuter		ello5			lo
	Plural	Masculine1		ellos		les, se3	los
		Feminine		ellas			las
	Reflexive			—	sí	se		consigo

1. Like other masculine words, masculine pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
2. Treated as if it were third person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity.
3. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g. se lo dije instead of *le lo dije).
4. Used primarily in Spain.
5. Only used in certain circumstances and rarely as a subject pronoun.