What's the difference between "você" and "tu"?

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video

Send Message Reserve Video Session

Hello, I’m Guilherme, one of the Portuguese Ambassadors and today I’m going to answer the question: What’s the difference between “tu” and “você”? The quick answer is: they both mean “you”. But, when you’re using “tu”, you have to use the second conjugation, the second person and when you’re using “você”, it’s the third person conjugation. The main reason for this, it’s because in the past “você” was kind of like a title, so it’s kind of like saying “Your Highness” or “Your Honour”. But, you’re never going to say “Your Highness are right or wrong”, you’re going to say “Your Highness is right or wrong”. It’s the third person. So it’s the same idea, when you use “você” it’s the third person. So for example, if we’re using the verb “to eat”, “comer”, if you’re using “tu”, you’re going to say “tu comes”, but if you’re using “você”, you’re going to say “você come”, which is the same as “he” or “she” or “it”. “Ele come”, “ela come”, “você come”. You’re probably going to hear a lot more “tus” in the south of Brazil and the north of Brazil. And kind of like in the middle, a lot more “você”, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais. And when it comes to Portuguese from Portugal, the main difference is that “você” is formal and “tu” is informal. So, in a formal setting, you’re going to say “você”, “você”, “você” and in a informal setting, “tu”. And, I’d say this is probably, yeah, the main difference.

Related Lessons

Lições Relacionadas

How Are You?
Como Você Está?
Subject Pronouns
Pronomes Pessoal Sujeito

Related Videos

Vídeos Relacionados

What's the difference between "esse/essa" and "aquele/aquela"?
Prof Renato
Introduction: Guilherme Ribeiro
Guilherme Ribeiro
Introduction: Nayane Bremm
Nayane Bremm
Minha apresentação como embaixador para a língua Português
Bheto Rego
What is the difference between "a" and "á" in Portuguese?
Nayane Bremm
What's the difference between "você" and "tu"?
Guilherme Ribeiro
Introduction: Angelo Menezes
Angelo Menezes
Einführung: Nayane Bremm
Nayane Bremm
Change language:
Francês Espanhol Inglês Italiano Alemão Português