2nd person plurals
I have lately noticed that in current teaching methods, the term 2nd person plural is omitted such as:- miráis, debéis etc. Is this the new method of teaching?
4 Answers
Can someone correct me because I may have misunderstood? I may be confusing it with vos/tu.
The vosotros form is used in Spain and a few regions in Central and South America.
In other Spanish-speaking countries, the 3rd-person plural is used for the formal, and the informal usage of "you (plural)".
Just to be punctilious, you are using 2nd person, plural, formal (which takes 3rd person verb endings). In other words you are using ustedes rather than vosotros. Ustedes is 2nd person, plural formal, not 3rd person, plural.
You are still saying "you [all]" which is 2nd person, not "they" which is 3rd person, plural.
A sentence or part of speech in the second person refers to the person being spoken to. A sentence or part of speech in the third person refers to someone or something other than the speaker or person being addressed.
That is the Vosotros form and is only used in Spain for the informal usage of "you (plural)".
In other Spanish-speaking countries, the 3rd-person plural is used for the formal, and the informal usage of "you (plural)".
Yes, it is a new trend. And not so new either. The textbooks I used (I didn't get to choose them either) usually skipped that conjugation. And that's because that verb conjugation is only used in Spain. I myself as a Spanish teacher in USA never required my students to learn it, but I did point it out as used only in Spain.
