What exactly is vosotros?
I've been taking for spanish for 5 years now, and we've never gone over, or even been taught what vosotros really is. I know it's only used in Spain, but is it a replacement for ustedes? Is it used like vous in French, where you use it for usted (formal tú) and ustedes? Or only ustedes?
3 Answers
Tú and vosotros (singular and plural) : When you speak with a friend, your girl friend or boy friend, your brother or sister, your parents or grand-parents, or your nephews or nieces, or an uncle and an aunt, with a classmate, (it doesn't matter that you don't know him/her very well).
Usted and Ustedes (singular and plural) With a professor, a teacher, someone you treat respectfully, or someone you've just met, and specially with someone you call "Sir", or Mr.
'Vosotros' isn't used in most of the Canary Islands either, and in western Andalusia there is a common way of speaking in which 'ustedes' is used with the verbal forms corresponding to 'vosotros'
Usted - You
Ustedes - You guys/ y'all
Vosotros is 'you' in the plural form
Nosotros is 'we'.
It and its associated forms (i.e., vos) are used for the plural form of you.
It is plural you, but it is informal. Like a plural tú. In Latin America, there is no formal / informal plural you (that distinction is made only in the singular). In Spain, the distinction continues over into the plural.
In Spain....
tú => vosotros
usted => ustedes
.
In Latin America...
tú => ustedes
usted => ustedes
