# Spanish Speakers: EEUU? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817 "2009-01-31T02:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/1 "2009-01-31T02:33:06Z")
Ok, the abbreviation for the United States is EEUU or El Estados Unidios…what does the final “U” mean? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/2 "2009-01-31T02:36:31Z")
EE and UU are _plural_ abbreviations for ‘Estados’ and ‘Unidos’ respectively. English does this occasionally as well: consider pp. for ‘pages’. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/3 "2009-01-31T02:37:15Z")
Yeah, it comes from Latin (maybe Italic) and is carried on in Italian, Spanish and French (?). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/4 "2009-01-31T02:41:48Z")
Yes, there’s no “El.” It would be “Los Estados Unidos.” ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/5 "2009-01-31T09:14:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes, there’s no “El.” It would be “Los Estados Unidos.” “Estados Unidos” as the name of a country is singular and, being a proper noun, uses no article. > [@](#): > > [http://estudiantes.elpais.es/libroestilo/dic\_es.asp](http://estudiantes.elpais.es/libroestilo/dic_es.asp) > > cabe emplear igualmente las siglas EE UU, pero no las inglesas USA. La concordancia se hará en singular, y no se utilizará nunca el artículo ‘los’ precediendo al nombre: ‘Estados Unidos reconoce al nuevo régimen’, pero no ‘los Estados Unidos reconocen al nuevo régimen’. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/6 "2009-01-31T15:51:03Z")
_Sin embargo_, I’m often asked, “Es/eres de los Estados Unidos?” I’ve never been asked, “Es de Estados Unidos?” ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/7 "2009-01-31T16:00:09Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > _Sin embargo_, I’m often asked, “Es/eres de los Estados Unidos?” I’ve never been asked, “Es de Estados Unidos?” Feel free to correctly respond “soy de Estados Unidos”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/8 "2009-01-31T16:11:49Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > “Estados Unidos” as the name of a country is singular and, being a proper noun, uses no article. Your cite is from the style book of a newspaper, _El Pais_. While this is commonly used as a style book (and we are using it as a guide for a bilingual exhibition I am currently working on) it’s not the final word on usage, any more than the AP or University of Chicago stylebooks are for English. A more authoritative cite is from the [Real Academia Espanola](http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lema=Estados%20Unidos) (Spanish Royal Academy), which states: > [@](#): > > Estados Unidos. 1. Nombre abreviado que se usa corrientemente para referirse al país de América del Norte cuyo nombre oficial es Estados Unidos de América. Puede usarse con artículo o sin él. Si se usa precedido de artículo, el verbo va en plural: «Los Estados Unidos han pedido a Francia que aplace su decisión» (Vanguardia [Esp.] 2.9.95). Si se emplea sin artículo, el verbo va en singular: «Estados Unidos está preparado para abrir negociaciones» (Proceso [Méx.] 2.2.97). This says that the name may be used with or without an article. If the article is used, the name is considered plural and takes “los” and a plural verb. If the article is not used, the name is considered singular and takes a singular verb. Certainly “los Estados Unidos” is a very common usage. I get 18 million Google hits for it, including the sites of US embassies in Spain and Latin American countries. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/9 "2009-01-31T16:14:30Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > Feel free to correctly respond “soy de Estados Unidos”. Hey, **sailor** , since you’re following this thread, which do you think is better: americano/a or estadosunidense? I learned the former in Spanish class in school, but I’ve seen the latter in the Spanish-language paper in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/10 "2009-01-31T16:22:15Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Hey, **sailor** , since you’re following this thread, which do you think is better: americano/a or estadosunidense? I learned the former in Spanish class in school, but I’ve seen the latter in the Spanish-language paper in Chicago. My link contains the opinion of the Real Academia on this issue: > [@](#): > > 1. El gentilicio recomendado, por ser el de uso mayoritario, es estadounidense, aunque en algunos países de América, especialmente en México, se emplea con preferencia la forma estadunidense, también válida. Debe evitarse el empleo de la voz usamericano, por estar formada sobre la sigla inglesa. Tampoco es aceptable la forma estadinense, usada alguna vez en Colombia a propuesta de algunos filólogos, y que no ha prosperado. Coloquialmente se emplea la voz yanqui (→ yanqui), a menudo con matiz despectivo. > > 2. Está muy generalizado, y resulta aceptable, el uso de norteamericano como sinónimo de estadounidense, ya que, aunque en rigor el término norteamericano podría usarse igualmente en alusión a los habitantes de cualquiera de los países de América del Norte o Norteamérica (→ Norteamérica), se aplica corrientemente a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos. Pero debe evitarse el empleo de americano para referirse exclusivamente a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos, uso abusivo que se explica por el hecho de que los estadounidenses utilizan a menudo el nombre abreviado América (en inglés, sin tilde) para referirse a su país. No debe olvidarse que América es el nombre de todo el continente y son americanos todos los que lo habitan. Personally, I think _estadounidense_ is fine, but Latin Americans tend not to use it in preference to _norteamericano_. While I understand the objections to _americano_, using such an inaccurate term as _norteamericano_ does not seem to me to be a good substitute. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/11 "2009-01-31T16:25:59Z")
I am not saying using the plural for “Los Estados Unidos” is not used but I do say the singular should be considered more correct as it is a proper noun, the name of a country. Like a company name or other collective name can be used in both singular and plural and there might be a slight nuance but when referring to a corporation as a single entity I believe it is more correct to use the singular: Microsoft has launched… Same with Estados Unidos. With respect to americano / estadounidense … I really do not have strong opinion and I suppose it depends on context. Americano is just simpler and easier and is favored unless estadounidense is needed to avoid misunderstanding or ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/12 "2009-01-31T18:41:07Z")
Seems to me like “Unidos” is not plural. Just like “United” is not plural. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/13 "2009-01-31T18:59:26Z")
“Unidos” is definitely plural and I would think “United” is plural too. Like “white” in “the cars are both white” is plural. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/14 "2009-01-31T19:06:40Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > Seems to me like “Unidos” is not plural. Just like “United” is not plural. That’s because you are using English grammar to try to understand Spanish. In Spanish, plural nouns take plural adjectives. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/15 "2009-01-31T19:07:42Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > “Unidos” is definitely plural and I would think “United” is plural too. Like “white” in “the cars are both white” is plural. You are trying to use Spanish grammar to understand English. In English, adjectives are (usually) neither plural nor singular. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/16 "2009-01-31T19:37:18Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > I am not saying using the plural for “Los Estados Unidos” is not used but I do say the singular should be considered more correct as it is a proper noun, the name of a country. Like a company name or other collective name can be used in both singular and plural and there might be a slight nuance but when referring to a corporation as a single entity I believe it is more correct to use the singular: Microsoft has launched… Same with Estados Unidos. You are free to think whatever you want, but the Real Academia, the official authority on correct Spanish usage, disagrees with you. They do not indicate that either usage is “more correct” than the other. Both are completely correct in Spanish. In my personal experience, in Panama “los Estados Unidos” is by far the more common usage. Usage may differ elsewhere. However, this is the term used by many official sites, including US embassies in Latin America as well as Latin American embassies in the United States. [QUOTE=sailor] Americano is just simpler and easier and is favored unless estadounidense is needed to avoid misunderstanding or ambiguity. [/QUOTE] Depends on what you mean by “favored.” It is true that many Latin Americans will casually use the term _americano_ for a US citizen unless they are trying to make a political point. The Real Academia, however, recommends that this term “must be avoided.” In actual fact, what I am usually called is simply “el gringo.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/17 "2009-01-31T20:24:10Z")
I’m Hispanic but have never encountered “unido” as apposed to “unidos”. It takes two or more entities to be united, no? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/18 "2009-01-31T21:02:34Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > I’m Hispanic but have never encountered “unido” as apposed to “unidos”. I’m very surprised by that. It depends on whether the noun is regarded as singular or not. Very well-known examples include the [Reino Unido](http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit%C3%A1nicos) (United Kingdom) and the song [El pueblo unido jamás será vencido](http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/music/lyrics/es/el-pueblo.htm). ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/19 "2009-01-31T21:14:54Z")
Yep, a single entity united from within. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817/20 "2009-01-31T21:19:57Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Yeah, it comes from Latin (maybe Italic) and is carried on in Italian, Spanish **and French (?)**. (bolding mine) I guess it’s possible, but I can’t think of a single instance where we’d use this form in French. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-eeuu/483817.md?page=2)