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¿Tienen ustedes la reserva para el hotel?

¿Tienen ustedes la reserva para el hotel?
Do you have the reservation for the hotel?
From Lesson 55:Formal address (usted, ustedes)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿Tienen ustedes la reserva para el hotel?

Why does the verb tienen look like the "they" form when the sentence means "Do you have..."?
This is how formal address works in Spanish! Even though ustedes means "you" (plural), it is a formal word that always uses the exact same verb endings as "they" (ellos and ellas). So, tienen can mean "they have" or, as it does here, "you (plural, formal) have".
When should I use ustedes instead of vosotros in Spain?
In Spain, vosotros is the casual way to say "you all" (used with friends, family, or people your own age). You switch to ustedes when you want to show respect to a group, like speaking to older adults, clients, or strangers in a formal setting (like hotel staff speaking to guests).
Why is ustedes placed right after the verb tienen?
In Spanish questions, it is very common to swap the normal order of the subject and the verb. Instead of saying "You have...?" (¿Ustedes tienen...?), it often sounds more natural to flip it to "Have you...?" (¿Tienen ustedes...?).
Why is it para el hotel and not por el hotel?
para and por can both mean "for", but they have different jobs. You use para when you are talking about a destination, purpose, or a specific recipient. Since the reservation is specifically meant for the hotel, para is the correct choice here.
Do I pronounce the "h" in hotel?
No, the letter "h" is completely silent in Spanish! You pronounce this word as if it starts directly with the "o", sounding like "oh-TEL".

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