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What is "vos"??

What is "vos"??

35
votes

What is VOS?

Vosotros is the plural form.

¿De dónde SOS?, ¿Cuántos años TENÉS?, ¿Y VOS?.

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These questions quickly confront anyone who comes to Buenos Aires or any other city in the vicinity of Rio del Plata. Even if you are an experienced Spanish speaker you may be surprised when you first hear these pronouns and verb forms. So what in the world is VOS?

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“VOS” is the second-person singular pronoun – it replaces the more common pronoun “TÚ” that is used in most other Spanish-speaking countries. It is the equivalent of the English “YOU” when used to address a single individual. VOS has its own set of verb forms that are distinct from those used with other pronouns.

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For example:

Vos sos una buena persona. (Here “sos” replaces “eres” that is normally used with “TÚ”)

You are a good person.

Note that “VOS” is the informal form of address. For formal means of addressing a single individual use “USTED” the same way it is used in Spain or other Spanish-speaking countries. The use of “VOS” is referred to as “voseo”. In Argentina it replaces “TÚ” completely. You will never hear anyone use “TÚ” in Buenos Aires (but people will understand you perfectly if you use it). VOS and Standard Spanish

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Sometimes students looking for a Spanish course get concerned that Argentinian Spanish is non-standard. “Will I be able to speak Spanish elsewhere if I learn all this VOS stuff?” – they wonder. In practice this is never a problem. First, all you have to know about VOS is described in this article. Secondly, if you learn Spanish in Argentina you will have no difficulty in understanding or using “TÚ”. All Spanish teachers in Argentina make it a point to teach both forms. Conversely, if you already learned Spanish elsewhere Argentinians will understand you perfectly. Conjugations of VOS.

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When using vos, verbs are conjugated differently in just two cases: Indicativo Presente and Imperativo Affirmativo. All other conjugations are the same as “TÚ”. VOS in Indicativo Presente.

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The Indicativo Presente form of VOS is actually easier to remember than that of any other pronoun. It always follows on simple rule:

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1-Replace the last “R” with “S”

2-Add an accent over the last vowel.

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Accordingly the VOS form of a verb is pronounced differently than “TÚ” because stress is always on the last syllable. Here are the conjugations for VOS in Indicativo Presente.

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......................HABLAR COMER VIVIR

TÚ ........... hablas ..... comes ..... vives

VOS .............hablás ......comés ...... vivís

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There is only one exception: Indicativo Presente of the verb SER for VOS is SOS.

Example:

Tú eres medico.

Vos sos medico.

You are a doctor.

VOS in Imperativo Affirmativo.

The formation of Imperativo Affirmativo for VOS is also very easy. The rule is as follows:

  1. Drop the last “R”

  2. Add an accent over the last vowel.

Accordingly the VOS form is pronounced with the stress always in the last syllable. Here are the conjugations of regular verbs in Imperativo Affirmativo:

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............ HABLAR ....COMER .....VIVIR

TÚ .......... habla .... come .......vive

VOS ........ hablá ...... comé ..........viví

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There is only one exception: the Imperativo Affirmativo conjugation of IR is ANDÁ. Here are conjugations in Imperativo Affirmativo for some common irregular verbs.

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......SER ... IR ....SABER

TÚ ........ sé ...... ve ........ sabe

VOS........ sé ... andá ..... sabé

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Note: In Imperativo Negativo VOS is conjugated the same way as “TÚ”.

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The History of VOS

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VOS comes from the second person plural pronoun YOU in Latin (also VOS). Around V century the plural form VOS started to be used to address the Roman Emperor as a sign of respect because the Emperor represents the people. Later his use of plural YOU has spread to other social groups as a general form of polite address. Many languages still retain this influence. For example in French the plural VOUS is used to address a single person in a formal way.

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In Spain and it’s colonies the use of VOS evolved to replace TÚ even in informal contexs such as among friends and family. Thus VOS lost its original purpose as a means of polite address of people in authority.

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The Spanish aristocracy then came up with a new mode of polite address VUESTRA MERCED which later with time became abbreviated into the now common USTED.

With the rise of USTED as a formal way of address TÚ made a comeback in Spain and regained its original use as a familiar form of YOU. The use of VOS correspondingly declined. However, the countries such as Argentina that were less connected to the Spanish Empire and thus were less influenced by its fashions have retained the use of VOS for the familiar form of address that was common when the country was originally settled.

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More info here

111781 views
updated MAY 5, 2017
edited by ray76
posted by Benz
So I'm gonna use more sentenses with "Vos" :) - Fidalgo, ABR 4, 2010
That is everything I wanted to know - Thank you Benz !!! - patch, ABR 4, 2010
Very nice tutorial! - 005faa61, ABR 4, 2010
Thank you very much this is very helpful Ive been trying to find this information for a while! - cheeseisyummy, ABR 10, 2010
Simply wonderful...so glad to have a tutorial on this subject - Izanoni1, ABR 10, 2010
Now that I know a little about this I slip in a little vos . - BellaMargarita, ABR 10, 2010
How many points do you have to have to make this a library article? - 0074b507, DIC 18, 2010
Wow Great Post Thanks for that Benz - pacofinkler, JUL 14, 2011
I now understand it , and even use it mentally , and look forward to meeting an Argentinean to practice with - ray76, JUN 28, 2014
This is an awesome explanation. Thank you. We also use "vos" or "voseo" in Central America. For us, "usted" is formal/business, "tú" is familiar, and "vos" is informal. - Paulo69, MAY 5, 2017

35 Answers

14
votes

alt text

En azul oscuro y azul claro los países con predominancia del voseo. En verde, los países donde la práctica se restringe a algunas zonas y en celeste, aquellos países donde su presencia es proporcionalmente pequeña. En rojo, la República Dominicana, España, Guinea Ecuatorial y Puerto Rico, donde el voseo no se usa nunca.

Countries that feature voseo.

Dark blue: countries that use vos as the primary spoken and written form.

Medium blue: countries where voseo is predominant, yet not as intensive.

Green: countries where the use of voseo is regional.

Light blue: countries where the presence of voseo is proportionally small.

Red: countries where voseo is practically non-existent.

updated NOV 22, 2015
edited by Benz
posted by Benz
See? Somos muchos los que usamos el voseo!!! - Benz, ABR 4, 2010
Thank you this was a huge help!! - KMcNiel, ABR 4, 2010
6
votes

Benz

You won't get many answers to this - you have answered everything yourself. grin

updated ABR 23, 2016
posted by ian-hill
3
votes

I just came across this form again from Honduras so I was glad to find this informative post. Maybe I should bump it up again.

updated ABR 23, 2016
posted by katydew
I've also heard it in Chile and and in Costa Rica but I didn't know what it was. - katydew, ABR 26, 2013
3
votes

How do you use it in un mandato with a pronoun?

ie. Vete

Would it be like... Andásos???

That sounds weird to me.

The imperative mood of the verb "ir" is :

ve (tú) / andá (vos)

id (vosotros) / vayan (ustedes)

Argentinians use "andáte" too:

"¡Andáte nomás!" (Go away!)

alt text

updated ABR 23, 2016
edited by LuisCache
posted by LuisCache
You are still here helping us , thanks mate. - ray76, JUN 28, 2014
3
votes

The legendary " Benz" has left a comment of this wonderful thread

I thought that it deserved bumping up , and to remind everyone what

a great member that we have in"Benz".She helped so many of us to

come to grips with her beautiful language , I shall never forget her.

Without great members like "Benz" SD would not have lasted so long.

Thank you dear friend , my dearest hope is that you will return


You've touched my heart ray76!! I miss many people from this forum, including you!!!! smile Tocaste mi corazón ray76!! Extraño a mucha gente de este foro, incluyéndote a vos! - Benz

enter image description here

updated JUL 6, 2014
edited by ray76
posted by ray76
jajajaa sos un dulce ray76!!! Gracias por tus palabras! - Benz, JUN 28, 2014
Benz - un Dulce - maybe that is going a "bit over the top" but a delight he is. Wish you were here with us again amiga. - ian-hill, JUN 28, 2014
That avenue is about 140m wide and 20 lanes - the widest I have ever seen. - ian-hill, JUN 28, 2014
Ian!!!! When I met you here, you were and Englishman in Bolivia!! miss you too my friend :) - Benz, JUL 6, 2014
That's Avenida 9 de Julio... the widest in South America... Buenos Aires is such a beautiful city! It's so much like Madrid in terms of arquitecture... that in some parts you can't tell the difference! :) Thanks guys!! - Benz, JUL 6, 2014
3
votes

I have never had the chance to thank "Benz" for this and all of her excellent

work on SD. She was also the moderator on my very first thread on SD .

Thank you so much old mate , I miss you greatly. You are a Leyenda

updated JUN 28, 2014
posted by ray76
You've touched my heart ray76!! I miss many people from this forum, including you!!!! :) Tocaste mi corazón ray76!! Extraño a mucha gente de este foro, incluyéndote a vos! - Benz, JUN 28, 2014
We all miss Benz - a true language artist. - ian-hill, JUN 28, 2014
3
votes

I don't want answers Ian smile

This is just information for you... learners of Spanish!!! It's good info and if I don't post it here, where should I post it? I think I'll link it to the Reference thread I opened some time ago...

Thanks anyway Ian wink

updated JUN 28, 2014
posted by Benz
I know I asked the question about "vos" - ian-hill, ABR 4, 2010
I remember Ian :) - Benz, ABR 4, 2010
Hi Benz, I may be wrong but I think Ian made his "not many answers" post a little tongue in cheek. - Eddy, ABR 5, 2010
2
votes

Ask all and everything you want to know about the use of "vos"... I'm here to answer your questions wink

updated ABR 23, 2016
posted by Benz
where is "vos" commonly used? - KMcNiel, ABR 4, 2010
2
votes

Do you drop r and and add i for the preterite. For example in song title I saw enojai instead of enojaste.

updated JUN 28, 2014
edited by BellaMargarita
posted by BellaMargarita
No, in Argentina we say "Vos te enojaste" (I think Chileans say "te enojai") :) - Benz, ABR 10, 2010
Chileans definitely add an i but I don't think that's necessarily for the preterite. - lachelvi, JUL 14, 2011
2
votes

I'm still contemplating Argentina for next year so this is good to know.

updated JUN 10, 2012
posted by Yeser007
You won't regret visiting Argentina!! - Benz, ABR 5, 2010
2
votes

I still remember a week I spent in the southernmost point of Chile with my parents and a guide from Argentina. I and the guide got along well and we both attempted to show a level of informality but failed utterly. He kept using vos and I kept using tú. One of us eventually asked the other why they were being so "formal". We got a good laugh out of it. smile

I should add that the teenagers in Chile seemed to use an extremely informal manner of address that could be described as voseo but sounded a lot more like the vosotros form. e.g. ¿Cómo estáis? which in true chilean teen fashion was pronounced "¿Cómo 'tai'? The "e" and "s" inevitably got swallowed.

updated JUL 14, 2011
edited by lachelvi
posted by lachelvi
2
votes

This is great, thanks! Benz do we also use the pronoun TE with voseo? Ponételo? Andáte?

updated JUL 14, 2011
edited by 003487d6
posted by 003487d6
Correct!! - Benz, ABR 4, 2010
1
vote

Bumping para todos.

updated ABR 26, 2016
posted by ray76
Hi Ray, what does it mean "bumping" in this case? - Janice, ABR 26, 2016
1
vote

Nice information

updated ABR 23, 2016
posted by Rey_Mysterio
1
vote

Interesante... se usa 'voseo' en México.

updated ABR 23, 2016
posted by Julie_
se usa en el estado de chiapas - Rey_Mysterio, ABR 22, 2016
México limita al sur con Guatemala. - Rey_Mysterio, ABR 22, 2016
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