In:Multilingual Corpus Research: Advances and challenges
Edited by Noelia Ramón and María Pérez Blanco
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 126] 2026
► pp. 315–337
Chapter 13A contrastive study of the second-person pronouns tú/usted in translated and original Spanish
Published online: 20 February 2026
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.126.13cha
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.126.13cha
Abstract
This chapter examines the translation of the English second-person pronoun you into Spanish, focusing on
cases where it is explicitly translated as tú or usted, with over 90% relying on verbal inflection. We
analyse the functions of these pronouns, comparing translated and original Spanish non-fiction texts and contrasting non-fiction with
fiction results from previous studies. The data come from the parallel corpus P-ACTRES 2.0, the translated Spanish CETRI corpus, and the
original Spanish CORPES XXI. Quantitative findings reveal differences in the generic, contrastive, and (non)optional emphasis functions,
with varying uses of tú and usted. Qualitative results show that these differences can affect function,
idiomaticity, text flow, and intelligibility. These results highlight challenges in translation and language acquisition and learning.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical background: The personal subject pronouns you,
tú, and usted
- 2.1The pragmatic functions of you, tú, and usted
- 2.2The effects of changes in translation
- 3.Data and method
- 3.1Corpora
- 3.2Sampling
- 3.3Statistics and quantitative analysis
- 4.Results and discussion
- 4.1The Spanish pronouns tú and usted in original and translated texts
- 4.2Comparing original and translated Spanish pronouns tú and usted
- 4.3Comparing translated pronouns tú and usted in fiction and non-fiction
- 5.Conclusions
Notes References
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