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Features articles of interest on language translation and localization, culture, language technology and other related topics. The goal of the Global Advisor Newsletter is to inform and entertain.

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Twenty-Sixth Edition

Familiar complications in Spanish websites

When translating from English into Spanish, one has to decide how to address the intended audience. Should one use the formal usted or the informal tú, or opt for the infinitive form of the verb and thus avoid making a selection altogether?

Use of the infinitive is common practice in the context of Spanish technical literature, where connect the cable becomes conectar el cable and contact us converts, quite effortlessly, into ponerse en contacto. When a more direct approach is necessary, usted is the preferred form of address in this context.

Translations of marketing literature, however, often require a more direct form of address and this is where the challenge begins. One must decide whether to use the formal usted or the more familiar tuteo: The choices are as follow:

Tuteo
Tú, the second person singular is often used to address family and friends. This form of address, based on the familiar pronoun tú, is called tuteo. Young people tend to use tú from the minute they meet, even in a business environment. For instance, it is customary for colleagues to address each other as tú, particularly when there is not significant difference in age or position.

The following are examples of tuteo:
Contact us = Contáctanos
Click here = Hace clic aquí
Select = Selecciona
Register = Regístrate
Subscribe = Suscríbete

Formal
Usted can be traced back to the ancient vuestra merçed (Your Mercy). Usted, abbreviated Ud. or Vd., is a contraction of vuestra merçed and it is used instead of tú, when a more formal form of address is considered more appropriate for the context, region or status of the person who is being addressed. The plural form of Usted is Ustedes (abbreviated Uds. or Vds.)

The following are examples of this formal type of address:
Contact us = Contáctenos
Click here = Haga clic aquí
Select= Seleccione
Register = Regístrase
Subscribe = Suscríbase

Voseo Argentino

In ancient Spanish, vos was used as a fictitious plural to denote a courteous form of address, in the same manner as vous in French and the royal we (a monarch's use of the first person plural when referring to him/herself that originated with the British Royal family) in English. An example  of the use of vos as a fictitious plural in Spanish is ¿Qué pensáis vos? (in English: What do you think?). The idea behind this is that addressing someone in the plural elevates his or her stature. This form of address evolved into the dialectal form of tuteo called voseo, used predominantly in Argentina, but also in other Spanish-speaking countries, with different variations that are outside of the scope of this report.

The following are examples of voseo:
Contact us = Contactanos
Click here = Hacé clic aquí
Select = Seleccioná
Register = Registrate
Subscribe = Suscribite


This form of vos should not be confused with the pronouns vosotras/vosotros commonly used in Spain. However, vosotras/vosotros is used there only in the plural. In the singular, it becomes tú. Counter intuitively, in Latin America, the plural of vos is usted.

To obtain a sampling of the forms of address currently used in Spanish sites, we visited a few car manufacturers' websites in Argentina, Mexico and Spain. The selection of industry was purely at -to-business site. This is what we found:


Argentina

Sampling size:19 sites
Nine, or 47%, consistently use the formal usted.
Four, or 21%, consistently used the informal, dialectal voseo.
Six, or 32%, inconsistently used the formal usted, and the informal tuteo and voseo as follows:

Mexico

Sampling size:14 sites
Three, or 21%, consistently use the formal usted.
Eight, or 58%, consistently used the informal tuteo.
None use the informal, dialectal voseo.
Three or 21%, inconsistently used the formal usted, and the informal tuteo as follows:

Spain

Sampling size:18 sites
Four, or 22%, consistently use the formal usted.
Eight or 44%, consistently used the informal tuteo.
None use the informal, dialectal voseo.
Six or 33%, inconsistently used the formal usted, and the informal tuteo as follows:

Recommending a general form of address for Spanish marketing literature is difficult. The  choice depends on the region and the degree of familiarity desired for the target audience. You may select any of the forms of address mentioned above that you consider most appropriate for the targeted region and audience. However, we recommend that once you have selected a form of address, you use it consistently throughout the website.
 

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