# ¿tenéis ...? dirigiéndose a una sola persona



## dakotabrett

My Spanish co-worker turned to me and asked me "¿Tenéis tijera?" to which I reacted somewhat confused and asked him why he had chosen the conjugation _tenéis _although he was only talking to me and no one else.  He says it is very common in Spain to say _tú tenéis_, _tú estáis_, _tú habláis_ although I had never heard of this before.

Can anyone from Spain clarify this for me?


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## lamartus

Sólo se me ocurre que él sea relativamente nuevo en tu empresa y no se sienta aún como parte de ella. Así, te identifica a ti como miembro y usa el plural para preguntarte: "¿Tenéis (en esta empresa, vosotros) tijeras?"
"¿Estáis cotizando en bolsa (vosotros como empresa)?" aunque solo estés tú delante.

Es el único caso en el que yo uso el plural para dirigirme a una única persona.
De todas maneras espera alguna opinión más pero no creo haberlo oído en otro contexto.

Si necesitas la explicación en inglés espero que alguien me ayude porque no sé si seré capaz...

Un saludo


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## dakotabrett

lamartus said:


> Si necesitas la explicación en inglés espero que alguien me ayude porque no sé si seré capaz...
> 
> Un saludo


 
Muchas gracias.  Podéis responder en el idioma que queráis.


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## buertu

En cuanto a lo que comentas de utilizarlo en esos casos específicos, yo lo utilizaría en el caso que me estuviera dirigiendo a alguien de la empresa y siempre y cuando yo no trabajara en ella. También es posible que el compañero de trabajo sea de otro departamento y se haya dirigido a ti de esa manera como diciendo _(Vosotros) _tenéis tijeras _(en este departamento)?_
Igual que lamartus no se me ocurre ningun otro caso en que se pueda utilizar.

He borrado el otro y añadido este porque no habia caido en ese caso en concreto


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## epasf

Yo estoy de acuerdo con Lamartus y Buertu, pero en cualquier caso se diría "¿Tenéis tijera?" entendiendo que habla de un grupo.

 Lo de _tú tenéis_, _tú estáis_, _tú habláis_ no se dice, es incorrecto y suena fatal.


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## sunheat

En mi país se dice: *Tienes UNA tijera? o Tienes UNAS tijeras? *

Para así hacer relación a que se trata de un objeto (sustantivo) si no da la idea para alguien que no hable castellano que se trata de un verbo. Así que ese chico de todas, todas habla muy mal.


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## fizzy_soda

I have had the very same thing happen to me, and not in a work nor group situation.  I have had Spaniards talk to me in vosotros when it was just a one-on-one situation.


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## gramatica

No es como se conjuga el voseo en algunos paises?


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## narhei

The use of _vosotros_, when talking to a single person, is common in some cases: refering to a group, nationality, company, etc, to which the person who is asked belongs to.

e.g.: In a conversation with an Italian: "¿siempre *coméis *pasta?" (los italianos)
With your wife's father: "Todos en vuestra familia *tenéis *los ojos claros"
With a waiter: "¿Qué *tenéis *de postre?"

It can be also a kind of very polite use of the 2nd person singular, I can't remember the name of it, but unless you are a king, that is not the case.


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## bellotojuanfra

dakotabrett said:


> My Spanish co-worker turned to me and asked me "¿Tenéis tijera?" to which I reacted somewhat confused and asked him why he had chosen the conjugation _tenéis _although he was only talking to me and no one else. He says it is very common in Spain to say _tú tenéis_, _tú estáis_, _tú habláis_ although I had never heard of this before.
> 
> Can anyone from Spain clarify this for me?


 
Tú tenéis, está muy mal dicho y desde luego no es usual que la gente cometa este error. 

¿Teneís tijeras? dirijiéndose solo hacia a tí, es correcto. Puede haber dos opciones, una es que tu compañero aún no se encuentre totalmente integrado y por lo tanto, tú estás dentro del colectivo al que el "no pertenece" y usa plural (vosotros).

La segunda opción, es que él esté en otra oficina/departamento (p. ej. contabilidad) diferente al tuyo y al pasarse por vuestra oficina (p. ej. publicidad) a pedir algo, use el vosotros (esto es muy común). 

Por supuesto, aun estando en oficinas diferentes, si entre vosotros ya existe confiaza suficiente, podría usar también el "tienes unas tijeras".

Saludos.


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## Manupi

fizzy_soda said:


> I have had the very same thing happen to me, and not in a work nor group situation. I have had Spaniards talk to me in vosotros when it was just a one-on-one situation.


Maybe they were addressing you as "you all Americans" or "you all English speakers", including you in a group.


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## San

dakotabrett said:


> My Spanish co-worker turned to me and asked me "¿Tenéis tijera?" to which I reacted somewhat confused and asked him why he had chosen the conjugation _tenéis _although he was only talking to me and no one else.  He says it is very common in Spain to say _tú tenéis_, _tú estáis_, _tú habláis_ although I had never heard of this before.
> 
> Can anyone from Spain clarify this for me?



Hola dakotabrett:

A riesgo de ser repetitivo después de lo que ya se ha dicho, añado que no hay nada extraño en usar la forma plural del verbo cuando hablas con una sola persona. El verbo concuerda con el sujeto de la oración, y el sujeto no tiene nada que ver con el número de personas que tienes delante. Seguramente te confunde el hecho de que en inglés no hay diferencia entre la 2ª persona del singular y la del plural.

Por tanto la frase _¿tenéis tijeras?_ es correcta, es español de todos los días y sólo tiene una interpretación posible. En el español de América habría que añadir el pronombre (_¿Tienen ustedes tijeras?_) para que se sepa que hablamos de ustedes y no de ellos.

En cuanto a lo otro, tu tenéis, seguramente malinterpretaste lo que te dijo tu compañero español.


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## Basenjigirl

Seems like a rough equivalent of the English phrase "You guys" which is used when speaking to one person but you're inquiring about the group that that person represents. For example, a waiter is a representative of the restaurant. So, when a diner asks "you guys have any good dishes on the menu today?" the customer isn't asking if the waiter specifically has any great dishes but if the restaurant itself has any. 

_A co-worker: "You guys have any scissors around here?"
In a restaurant: "You guys have any good dishes on the menu today?"
In a bookstore: "You guys have any new books worth buying?"_


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## Manupi

Basenjigirl said:


> Seems like a rough equivalent of the English phrase "You guys" which is used when speaking to one person but you're inquiring about the group that that person represents. For example, a waiter is a representative of the restaurant. So, when a diner asks "you guys have any good dishes on the menu today?" the customer isn't asking if the waiter specifically has any great dishes but if the restaurant itself has any.
> 
> _A co-worker: "You guys have any scissors around here?"_
> _In a restaurant: "You guys have any good dishes on the menu today?"_
> _In a bookstore: "You guys have any new books worth buying?"_


Yes, it's a good comparison!


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## bellotojuanfra

Basenjigirl said:


> Seems like a rough equivalent of the English phrase "You guys" which is used when speaking to one person but you're inquiring about the group that that person represents. For example, a waiter is a representative of the restaurant. So, when a diner asks "you guys have any good dishes on the menu today?" the customer isn't asking if the waiter specifically has any great dishes but if the restaurant itself has any.
> 
> _A co-worker: "You guys have any scissors around here?"_
> _In a restaurant: "You guys have any good dishes on the menu today?"_
> _In a bookstore: "You guys have any new books worth buying?"_


 
Hi!

Yo creo que si es algo bastante parecido, pero la interpretación que puedo hacer, sin ser nativo inglés, es que el "you guys" es algo más informal. Pero tu comentario es muy acertado.


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## Basenjigirl

Sí, Bello, es algo más informal en inglés.


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## gramatica

Hola:

Aqui esta la version mas formal:

_A co-worker: "You guys have any scissors around here?"  *Do you have any scissors around here?*
In a restaurant: "You guys have any good dishes on the menu today?"* Do you have any good dishes on the menu today?*_
_In a bookstore: "You guys have any new books worth buying?"*Do you have any new books that are worth buying*_


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## gramatica

Hola:

En un restaurante se puede decir "Tienen/teneis sopas?"/=Do you (guys) have/carry any soups? Y se usaria "teneis" en Espana si la conversacion fuera informal y se usaria "tienen" en todos los demas paises y en Espana si fuera formal, no?

Gracias


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## San

gramatica said:


> Hola:
> 
> En un restaurante se puede decir "Tienen/teneis sopas?"/=Do you (guys) have/carry any soups? Y se usaria "teneis" en Espana si la conversacion fuera informal y se usaria "tienen" en todos los demas paises y en Espana si fuera formal, no?
> 
> Gracias



Cierto, en América no hay una manera específicamente informal de dirigirse a un  grupo, o al alguien en representación de un grupo como estábamos comentando. Creo que alguien dijo que _you guys_  era demasiado informal por lo de _guy_, no porque vosotros sea formal.


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## DCPaco

Dakotabrett, estoy totalmente de acuerdo con lo que han respondido los compañeros españoles.  Sin embargo, como estás en EEUU, quizás tenga sentido la pregunta que Gramatica te ha hecho:  "No es como se conjuga el voseo en algunos paises?"

Muchos latinoamericanos usan el voseo y para aquellos que no están acostumbrados al voseo, "tenés" es fácilmente confundido con "tenéis".  Otra cosa:  muchos latinoamericanos que usan el voseo, suelen aspirar las "s" y esto podría bien sonar como:  tenés tijera...cuando realmente se está diciendo "tenés tijeras".

En fin, si tu compañero es de España, sin duda estaba usando el "you all".  Si es latinoamericano, yo diría que quizá era el voseo y no el vosotros que se estaba aplicando.


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## gramatica

Muchas gracias


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## Cheche

Hi dakotabrett, hi everyone,



dakotabrett said:


> [...]"¿Tenéis tijera?"[...]tú tenéis, tú estáis, tú habláis[...]



As you most certanly know, in *current* Spanish-Castellano:
"¿Tenéis tijera?" can not be used at all
"¿Tienes (tú) tijeras?" is the friendly form with "tú"
"¿Tiene (usted) tijeras?" can be said when using the polite form "usted". 

Of course without knowing your co-worker at all, nor the context, this is mearly a theory, but I have a pretty good idea  of what could have happend, I come back to that in a moment.

 Although is not totally incorrect in singular, the word "tijera*s*" (in plural) is a better choice even though you are talking about one object only. This happens often when the object is somehow a pair of something or presents some symmetry, for instance "gafas", "binóculos", "pantalones", etc.

 This is important, *the subject and the verb ought to be always in consonance in person and number*, this does not admit compromise.

Thus, I am afraid, "tú tenéis, tú estáis, tú habláis" is unquestionably wrong, i.e. "grammatically" incorrect.

The original expression "¿Tenéis tijera?"... "¿Tenéis (vosotros) tijera?" is not "grammatically incorrect"; as I said, "¿Tenéis (vosotros) tijera*s*?" sounds even better but, as yoy said, there is no point in asking it to one person alone.

Is your co-worker definitely Spanish? (I am kidding )

 And here is my explanation: In my opinion, most probably he used an old form of speach: "¿Tenéis (vos) tijera?". This is a Medieval way of conjugation, but sometimes (barely but not weirdly) we Spaniards could use to speak humorously or joking. You can find it often in classic literature or verse. This possibility will explain the use of "tijera" and not "tijeras" as well.

Then, you could have followed the style this way:
– ¿Tenéis tijera?
– A vos os reservo una... ¡Mas cuidado, no os cortéis! ¡Es afilada como mi espada!

In other words, it would have been like someone speaking English would have come up with this:

"Wherefore art thy cisoires? Have thou?



Hope I have been helpfull somehow, Cheche.


Note: I apologise for been late , I wrote this yesterday but my rooter's configuration was damaged by the rain... The weather changes are in Madrid.


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## San

Cheche said:


> The original expression "¿Tenéis tijera?"... "¿Tenéis (vosotros) tijera?" is not "grammatically incorrect"; as I said, "¿Tenéis (vosotros) tijera*s*?" sounds even better but, as yoy said, there is no point in asking it to one person alone.



Why not? So, if a friend are talking to you about a trip he is planning with some friends of his, and you ask him _¿Dónde vais a parar? (¿Dónde os vais a alojar?)_, that sounds weird to you?


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## Cheche

Hi San,

Not weird, but (always in my opinion) the co-worker would not use it, unless he is new in the company or subcontracted, meaning "Do you, in this company, have some scissors?". The plural with one person alone only is used when a group is clearly implicit and the talker does not belong to it.

It can be possible but I do not think it fits.

Greetings, Cheche.


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## San

Cheche said:


> Hi San,
> 
> Not weird, but (always in my opinion) the co-worker would not use it, unless he is new in the company or subcontracted, meaning "Do you, in this company, have some scissors?". The plural with one person alone only is used when a group is clearly implicit and the talker does not belong to it.
> 
> It can be possible but I do not think it fits.
> 
> Greetings, Cheche.



I prefer to think inversely. If it is a grammatically correct sentence, and it's said for someone who knows how to speak, there must be a context where the phrase makes sense . In this case it is not difficult to think in many of them.


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## Cheche

Hi again San,

I have been thinking about it and I think you are most probably right.

The new context I have been thinking about now is that the company can perfectly have "partitions" sucha as sectors, departments, etc. Whoever working in the company (therfore a co-worker) and coming from outside that particular partition could ask: "¿Tenéis tijera?" (I still think "tijera*s*" is better, but ok). In this case the co-worker would ask meaning: "Do you, in this area, have any scissors?".

Although this solution comes now the most probable to me, I enjoy much more the idea that he was using a Medieval Spanish .

Greetings, Cheche.


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## dakotabrett

Bueno, mi compañero de trabajo es español (aunque hace mucho tiempo que vive fuera de España). Le he mostrado este tema y vuestros comentarios y me dice que todos os equivocáis, jajaja. Pero sigo de acuerdo con vosotros.


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## San

dakotabrett said:


> Bueno, mi compañero de trabajo es español (aunque hace mucho tiempo que vive fuera de España). Le he mostrado este tema y vuestros comentarios y me dice que todos os equivocáis, jajaja. Pero sigo de acuerdo con vosotros.



Bueno, si en serio dice _tú tenéis_, tu compañero habla peor que un niño de cinco años. He conocico varios casos de emigrantes que hablan muy muy mal español, pero se fueron muy jóvenes y apenas habían ido al colegio. Además veinte o treinta años fuera es mucho tiempo para alguien que no tiene una mínima educación.


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## Cheche

Hi,



dakotabrett said:


> [...]Le he mostrado este tema y vuestros comentarios y me dice que todos os equivocáis, jajaja.[...]



¡Juas ! As I thought, I he most certanly has a great sense of humor.

Greetings , Cheche.


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## MarX

dakotabrett said:


> My Spanish co-worker turned to me and asked me "¿Tenéis tijera?" to which I reacted somewhat confused and asked him why he had chosen the conjugation _tenéis _although he was only talking to me and no one else.  He says it is very common in Spain to say _tú tenéis_, _tú estáis_, _tú habláis_ although I had never heard of this before.
> 
> Can anyone from Spain clarify this for me?


This is the first time I've ever heard of this.

All I know is that it's very common in the spoken language in Chile to say something like *tú tenís*, *tú estái*, *tú hablái*.

In Spain you would use _tenéis_, _estáis_, _habláis_ with *vosotr@s*, as far as I know.

I'm just telling you what I know. The Spanish language is full of surprises.


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## DCPaco

dakotabrett said:


> Bueno, mi compañero de trabajo es español (aunque hace mucho tiempo que vive fuera de España). Le he mostrado este tema y vuestros comentarios y me dice que todos os equivocáis, jajaja. Pero sigo de acuerdo con vosotros.


 
This could also be a case of one who is trying to pass for Spanish (for reasons unknown to us).

I recall at a bar, there was a guy that was telling people he was from Spain and, I being aware of many of the nuances of the Iberian Spanish, caught that he was lisping even the "s," which is a common mistake of bad actors when playing the roll of a Spaniard.  I listened to him carefully as I collected evidence (and courage in the form of beer) to expose him.  As the night grew, the effects of the alcohol led him to his final confession:  "I'm from El Salvador."

If a person has forgotten how to speak a language, their conjugations will usually be wrong and their language will be rudimentary, at best.  If his Spanish is pretty good, but he uses the "vosotros" conjugation in singular, I'd say he's just trying to pull the wool over your eyes (for whatever reason).


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## Dr. Fumbles

dakotabrett said:


> My Spanish co-worker turned to me and asked me "¿Tenéis tijera?" to which I reacted somewhat confused and asked him why he had chosen the conjugation _tenéis _although he was only talking to me and no one else.  He says it is very common in Spain to say _tú tenéis_, _tú estáis_, _tú habláis_ although I had never heard of this before.
> 
> Can anyone from Spain clarify this for me?



I'll tell you in English so you understand fully:
We never use tu and tenéis together sounds wrong.  Besides, like you say tenéis is only with vosotros, or vos if you wanna sound reverential or one area of latin america that uses it like that still only in place of tu.  So rest assured that he's saying it right.  But in all likelyhood he explained it bad and meant to say that he was addressing you but including you all at the same time.  Kinda like when you ask a waitor Whadda y'all got?  Yes I'm addressing just the waitor but, I'm asking what the restaurant gots as a hole.  Hope that helped.  Laters.


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## Dr. Fumbles

lamartus said:


> Sólo se me ocurre que él sea relativamente nuevo en tu empresa y no se sienta aún como parte de ella. Así, te identifica a ti como miembro y usa el plural para preguntarte: "¿Tenéis (en esta empresa, vosotros) tijeras?"
> "¿Estáis cotizando en bolsa (vosotros como empresa)?" aunque solo estés tú delante.
> 
> Es el único caso en el que yo uso el plural para dirigirme a una única persona.
> De todas maneras espera alguna opinión más pero no creo haberlo oído en otro contexto.
> 
> Si necesitas la explicación en inglés espero que alguien me ayude porque no sé si seré capaz...
> 
> Un saludo


Te ayudaré lamartus!
It just seems to me that he's new to your company and doesn't feel like a part of it still.  So, he identifies you as a member and uses the plural to ask you: Do y'all have (in this business, vosotros) sizors? (sorry the spelling for sizors excapes my mind at the moment)
Are y'all trading in the stockmarket (vosotros as a company)? although you're only up front.

It's the only case which I use the plural to address a single person in.
Anyways, wait on some more opinions, but I don't believe I've heard it in another context.  If you need the explanation in English wait on someone to help me because I don't know if I shall be able to.  Well hope that helps too.


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