in the Michel Thomas Spanish course he seems to use the "El" form when he means the "Tu" form - is he wrong??

Question

My wife , who is quite good at Spanish, insists he's using the wrong form of the verb, but I dont understand how he can be so wrong.. For instance, he says "tiene" for "you have" and my wife says it should be "tienes" ... anyone know who's right? No-one on the web seems to have noticed this mistake, if it is one...

Answer 1

Both are correct, although tienes is most used, you can ask Cuantos años tienes tu? or Cuantos años tienes? There's nothing wrong with using 'tu', but it's people that are learning spanish that use 'tu' the most.

Answer 2

Both are right, having learnt to speak Spanish (it took 3 years!!!! and a long haired dictionary lol) There are two ways of saying you, Usted and Tu. Usted is the formal version, also used when speaking to someone you don't know or someone older. Tu is the easier form to use when you are leaning Spanish, however it is informal and can sometimes be taken in offence if you are again talking to someone you dont know or they are older. I would suggest you stick with the Tu format for now but prehaps when you are spekaing to a spanish speaking person, explain you are American / english and are still learning spanish. Eventually the difference will make sense to you and you'll use Usted without realizing. In know i did!

Also maybe an evening class or two would come in useful to practice speaking and getting your confidence up.

By the way Vaya is a much better book to teach yourself from!

Answer 3

Michel Thomas Spanish

Answer 4

He's correct that Ud. tiene means you have in the polite or formal form. Unlike other answerers, I would suggest you actually learn the Ud. form. For one thing, it gives you four verb forms for one (he has, she has, it has), and for another, as a tourist, you will probably only run up against people with whom you should use the formal form. The tu tienes form is used for friend/relative/child--either someone with whom you have a close relationship or someone for whom you need to show no respect (child, animal)
Usage probably varies in the various Spanish-speaking countries, and I have only textbook knowledge myself, but for any language I'd suggest that the adult learner concentrate on the most formal/polite form and you can learn the informal forms when you have close friends to speak Spanish with.

Answer 5

The verb forms for Tener, the infinitive of to have are:

Yo Tengo
Tu Tienes
Él, Ella Ud. Tiene

Nosotros Tenemos
Vosotros Tengaís (iffy on that one)
Ellos, Ellas, Uds. Tienen

The verb tener is irregular, but usually the verb endings for er verbs are:

yo: o
tu: es
él ella ud: e

nos: emos
ustedes: en

Yes, it should be Tu tienes.

Answer 6

They are both correct. One is familiar and one is formal. You would use the "Usted" form when speaking to your elders or an authority figure or strangers, and you would use the "tu" form when addressing your friends, peers and children. It's just a matter of respect, basically. Like your mom would call her friend "Theresa," but you would be expected to call her "Miss Theresa."

Answer 7

It's technically correct to refer to someone you don't know in the third person, even when speaking directly to them.. You may have heard of 'usted'- your honour , which is used in this circumstance. It's use varies amongst people and cultures, one Argentinian friend told me that he used to get in trouble as a young man for only using the 'tu' form ,as a kind of protest against heirarchy ,I guess.

Answer 8

There is no mistake.You see in spanish there are 2 forms of you.Tu and usted.Tu is the non-formal and Vd. is the formal.Thus when someone saids " tiene",They could mean :He has ,she has or you(Vd.) have.Tu is only used with "tienes".

Answer 9

I know how to speak Spanish and your wife is right is tienes, the key word is you, and have is tener. GOT IT...

Answer 10

He is right - he is using the 'Usted' form rather than the 'Tú' form, making it much more polite, although the 'tú' form is more used.