¡¡TÚ, VOSOTROS vs. USTED, USTEDES!!

   You all must know the personal pronoun "TÚ" and "VOSOTROS", but... WHAT ABOUT THEIR FORMAL VERSIONS??? I am sure you can remember them  ;)

The only difficult part of these classy pronouns (and old-fashion for some people it seems!) is that, even if their meaning is "you",  they don't conjugate the verb with the 2nd person (TÚ and VOSOTROS), but with the 3rd person (ÉL or ELLOS)! 
But DON'T PANIC, it is as easy as breathing!!!:

An example with the verb SER:

Yo  soy
Tú eres
Él/ella/usted es
Nosotros somos
Vosotros sois
Ellos/ellas/ustedes son

This pronoun is neuter in gendre and it is usually omitted, we realise it's there when the verb is in the third person when it should be in the second person.

Let's practise with it a bit:

- Buenas tardes, Señorita Núñez, ¿cómo está? / 
Good evening, Mrs Núñez, how are you?
- Muy bien, gracias ¿y usted? / 
Very well, thank you, and you?

- Hola, ¿puede decirnos dónde hay un hospital? /
Hello, could you tell me where there is a hospital?
- ¡Claro!, deben ir todo recto y luego a la izquierda. /
Of course, you must go straight down and then left.

So, to sum up...

 USTED + VERB (3rd person of the singular = él)

USTEDES + VERB (3rd person of the plural = ellos)

So if you find a lovely Spanish grandma or someone in a formal context or you have a politeness attack you will be ready to say: "BUENOS DÍAS, ¿CÓMO ESTÁ?", and you will be more polite than most of the Spaniards ;)

Un besito y.... I hope that's useful for the future!

Inma.