How do you translate Spanish messages? Writing warm, correct Spanish without speaking it

Spanish has two ways to say “you”: the formal usted and the informal tú. In Spain and much of Latin America people move to tú quickly, even at work; for a first message, an official body or someone older, usted is still the safer choice.

English has only one “you”, so the translation picks the tone from the rest of your wording. Polite phrases such as “could you please” and “kind regards” lead to usted; a short, casual message leads to tú. If the other person writes to you with tú, a relaxed tone is fine.

Spain and Latin America sometimes use different words for the same thing: a car is coche in Spain and carro in Mexico; a computer is ordenador in Spain and computadora in Latin America. Translated text is understood on both sides; small word differences do not cause misunderstandings.

When writing to several people, “ustedes” is the plural for both formal and casual use in Latin America, while friends in Spain say “vosotros”. Writing plainly in English gives a correct result for both regions.

Spanish messages open with a short greeting and end on a warm line. If you write these patterns in English, the translation comes out natural:

Spanish marks questions and exclamations at the start as well: ¿Cuándo llega? or ¡Gracias! The translation adds these by itself; a normal question mark in English is all you need.

Accented letters (á, é, í, ó, ú) and ñ can change a word's meaning. When you need a name or an address from an incoming message, copying and pasting it is safer than retyping it.

Spanish-speaking countries write dates as day/month/year, so 03/04 is the 3rd of April, not March 4th. In Spain the decimal separator is a comma and thousands use a dot (1.250,50 €); Mexico uses the English style (1,250.50).

When you write an important price or quantity, name the currency: euros, Mexican pesos or dollars? The same “$” sign is used for local currency in many Latin American countries.