GIVE ANSWERS - Español

100% GOOD (2 votes)responditLanguage Question
I saw ”Necesita ayuda?” translated as ”Do you need help?” Why don’t we say ”Nesecitas ayuda?” Isn’t this gramatically correct?


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rickycom profile picture rickycomJanuary 2020

¿necesita ayuda? means "do you need help?" in a formal way (it is the 3rd person singular, the pronoun can be "usted" (courtesy form), él (he) or ella (she). Note that in this case, like in many cases in spanish personal pronouns are omitted.
¿necesitas ayuda? means "do you need help?" (in this case the verb is used in the 2nd singular form).

And by the way, the correct to way to write is "necesita/necesitas" (using c and not s), since the verb is necesitar: necesitar may be pronounced like it were "nesesitar" by people in Latin America and Southern Spain, but the correct ortography prescribes to use "necesitar".

  • Berlusconi profile picture BerlusconiJanuary 2020
    That's true. Usted is the 3rd person grammatically, but it is 2nd person in the speech. It is the formal way of addressing a person, mostly used with seniors and outsiders.
Stefania90 profile picture Stefania90January 2020
en la pregunta ¿necesita ayuda? el sujeto aunque no aparezca sería usted, es decir, se está usando una forma cortés o respetuosa para dirigirse a esa persona
  • RichieSG profile picture RichieSGFebruary 2020
    For strangers we don't use the "TU" form of expressions like "¿Necesitas ayuda?" Is not respectful. We use the "Usted" form which is "¿Necesita ayuda?" And this one is better for people you don't know.
fernan89 profile picture fernan89May 2020
¿(Tu) necesitas ayuda? This one is not formal
¿(Usted) necesita ayuda? This is formal