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6 votes
2 answers
878 views

Etymology of "nada" and "nadie"

In English, the words to describe the total absence of anything or anybody (and other similar meanings) are nothing and nobody, whose etymologies are quite direct: "no thing" or "not any thing" and ...
Charlie's user avatar
  • 77.6k
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why “os” and not “vos”?

The direct and indirect object pronoun in the first person plural is nos, obviously related to nosotros. Why is, then, the second person plural os, since vos would make more sense in order to ...
K. O'Hara's user avatar
  • 153
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

¿Significaban lo mismo "vosotros" y "vos otros" en el siglo XV?

Curioseando un poco he descubierto hoy que "vosotros" viene de "vos + otros", y no al revés como yo pensaba (creía que "vos" era una abreviatura de "vosotros"). Eso quiere decir que en el español ...
Charlie's user avatar
  • 77.6k
9 votes
1 answer
526 views

Why does "hay" have no pronoun?

The Spanish word hay means there is/are, however it comes from the present indicative impersonal third-person for of the verb haber. When constructing most impersonal phrases such as "one must" - "...
BladorthinTheGrey's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
5k views

Where did using "un servidor" to address yourself come from? / De donde se origina la costumbre de llamerse a sí mismo "un servidor"?

I've heard from many Spanish-speakers now that when they talk about themselves, they use the phrase "un servidor" instead of "yo" or "mi." I have always thought of the English equivalent of the phrase ...
user96872's user avatar
  • 357
5 votes
2 answers
3k views

Origin of "vos" pronoun

How did the vos personal pronoun come to be? Is it etymologically related to vosotros in any way? Did it develop before or after the other personal pronouns used today (tú, usted, vosotros, etc)? Was ...
jrdioko's user avatar
  • 17.7k
20 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why is "Usted" grammatically a third person?

In English polite form of address is "You" which is second person singular and plural. In Russian it is "Вы" which is plural second person. In Spanish (and probably French and Italian) polite address ...
alpha-mouse's user avatar
17 votes
5 answers
10k views

What is the etymology of the pronoun "usted"? What formal pronouns existed before?

What is the etymology of the pronoun "usted"? What formal pronouns existed before, and when did the current "usted" come into existence?
jrdioko's user avatar
  • 17.7k