Remember those lessons where you learned to use the formal 'usted' with strangers and 'tu' with friends' Well, the signs on Philadelphia's streets show that Spanish speakers actually use pronouns differently. In Spanish, unlike modern English, speakers must choose between different ways of saying 'you' when addressing someone. Some Spanish dialects use up to four different forms ' 'tu,' 'usted,' 'vos' and the Colombian 'sumerce' ' but the Spanish speakers writing signs in Philadelphia have settled on just two: 'tu' and 'usted.' After analyzing 250 signs across three neighborhoods with a significant number of Spanish speakers ' the Golden Block, in North Philadelphia; Olney, in North Philadelphia; and South Philadelpha's Italian Market corridor ' and online spaces such as social media from different Hispanic organizations in the city, I found some surprising patterns in how these forms are used. Bilingual signs written in both Spanish and English tend to use the verb form associated...
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