English plural but Spanish singular?

Why is “(It) is not the formal Spanish of universities: (it) is the Spanish that is spoken in real life.” translated to “la universidad"?

In a somewaht similar question, why is the first “utilizar” statement “la” (what I would have used since we are talking about la forma) but the second one is “se” (but we are still talking about la forma)?

Sí, pero no la utilizamos en Sudamérica. Es la forma vosotros. Se utiliza en España, pero en América del Sur ...

Out of curiousity, I like how both forms of South America were highlighted, but would a native speaker actually do that? I suspect they pick one and go with it.

Thanks!

¡Hola Scott_C y Alme!

Since we're dealing with a few questions here, I'll break my answer up into a few sections, to make this a bit easier to read!

1. Question on Lesson 8.1: Why is la universidad translated as “universities”?

Alme is on the right track here: in Spanish, la universidad and las universidades can both be used to talk about “universities” in general. 

This can be hard to understand at first, because English doesn't really do the same thing: normally, when we want to talk about something in a general way in English, we'll make it plural (hence “the formal Spanish of universities”). But in Spanish, both the plural and the singular can be used to talk about things in a general way, and they essentially amount to the same thing. 

So, we can say el español formal de las universidades, in which case we basically mean the formal Spanish of the universities that are out there in general, or we can say el español formal de la universidad, in which case we basically mean the formal Spanish of the university as a general concept or institution. 

2. Question on Lesson 8.3: Why the se in se utiliza?

Both of you were partially on the right track with what's going on in this sentence, but it is a little tricky! 

In this sentence, the pronouns la and se aren't indicating the same thing. The la “it” in no la utilizamos “we don't use it” does (as you thought, Scott_C) represent/replace la forma “the form.” The se in se utiliza, meanwhile, is actually doing something very different! It's not, as Alme suspected, talking about people in Spain in general (this would be what's called the “impersonal se”); instead, it's making this sentence passive, and is what's called the “passive se.”
 

In a nutshell, the passive se is used to change sentences from the active voice (e.g. “He did it”) to the passive voice (e.g. “It was done”). In this sentence, the subject of se utiliza is la forma “the form” that we've been discussing - so, la forma “the form” being discussed (i.e. la forma vosotros “the vosotros form”) is the thing that is used in Spain. 

(If you're wondering why this can't be the impersonal se, Alme: if it were, then Se utiliza en España would essentially translate to “One uses in Spain,” which doesn't make sense - it's missing an object (the thing that one uses in Spain).)

3. Question on Lesson 8.3: Would a native speaker really use both ways of saying “South America”?

Whether people say Sudamérica or América del Sur for “South America” can be a matter of personal preference, and so some speakers may stick to using one or the other. However, native speakers also like to switch up the terminology they're using, just for some variety - after all, it does get boring to repeat the same thing over again, especially if it's a longer term! So it wouldn't be unusual for someone to switch between Sudamérica and América del Sur like this in conversation.

I hope that all of this is helpful! If either of you still have any questions or find any of this confusing, don't hesitate to ask! And if you'd like to learn more about the different types of se, we have an entire lesson devoted to explaining and comparing them in Level 3 (Lesson 18.8 “All About SE”).

Saludos,

Liss

As always Liss, amazingly helpful. And people say English is hard to learn!  I (maybe) look forward to the other uses of “se” in the future, but suspect it will take me a while to get there.

I love it! “The Swiss army knife of Spanish”!! I feel like Spanish seems to have a few of those. I am sure plenty of English things are vague as well (or multi-meaning) but it sure does challenge us learners.