Sois vosotros or vosotros sois?

Question

To ask a group of people where they are from, would you use ¿Vosotros sois de Puerto Rico? or ¿Sois vosotros de Puerto Rico?

son - Rey_Mysterio, Sep 30, 2014

Answer 1

The correct word order for a question would normally be:

¿Sois vosotros de Puerto Rico?

Because sois tells you that you are using vosotros, vosotros is not really needed:

¿Sois de Puerto Rico?

But if you think they are from Puerto Rico, I might use ustedes, since I think they don't use vosotros there:

¿Son ustedes de Puerto Rico?

Ustedes is the best option if you are not sure where people come from since it is more or less universally understood by Hispanic people whereas vosotros is only really used in Spain as informal plural form :) - FELIZ77, Sep 29, 2014

Although I think most non-isolated Latin Americans have had sufficient exposure to vosotros to understand it or at least figure it out when someone else uses it. - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

Yes,II agree about the non isolated ones - FELIZ77, Sep 29, 2014

But they may not know how to do it themselves. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

What Latin Americans are "isolated" ? What do you mean by that? - rac1, Sep 29, 2014

Well, there are a few that live in small villages without a lot of exposure to TV and other media from Spain. Perhaps isolated was too strong a word. - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

I only meant that do not get the exposure to materials directly from Spain, that most Latin Americans who have TVs watch, just as people in the US watch British shows. - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

None the less, the British still manage to stymie us with some of their usages. - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

And I suppose we do with them as well. - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

I mean I am not sure there are any groups that are truly isolated as in the sense of no outside contact with anyone at all anymore. Anywhere in the world. - bosquederoble, Sep 29, 2014

some places have lttle contact with the outside world but are opening up more eg Cuba - FELIZ77, Sep 30, 2014

Although I might add, I suspect they would figure it out, just like I do when Pablo uses vos. But I have no idea how to use it myself. ;) - bosquederoble, Oct 3, 2014

Answer 2

I'd use what "bosquederoble" said.

Me too - much qucker amiga :) - ian-hill, Oct 3, 2014

*amigo! Well, at least the last time I checked! : ) - jphip, Oct 3, 2014

Jajaja - rac1, Oct 3, 2014

jajj - Rey_Mysterio, Oct 7, 2014

Answer 3

Son puertoriqueños?

Son de Puerto Rico?

Son boricuas?

Son de P.R.?

Answer 4

If you were in Spain you would not ask this question because the "vosotros" form is used with people you know more intimately. It is unlikely that you would ever ask a group of people from one place (Puerto Rico, España, etc) which you know intimately, "Are you from...?"

So regardless of where you are, ask "¿Son de Puerto Rico?" "¿Son de Madrid?" You can add ustedes if you want for example if they are not all looking at you while you are asking the question. But remember that personal pronouns are only needed for clarification and emphasis in Spanish.

¡Muy bien dicho, amigo. :) - FELIZ77, Oct 3, 2014

:) - ian-hill, Oct 3, 2014

Answer 5

Hello Hansnala,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

You asked:

To ask a group of people where they are from, would you use ¿Vosotros sois de Puerto Rico? or ¿Sois vosotros de Puerto Rico?

It would be written as ¿Sois de Puerto Rico? =Are you from Puerto Rico?

However, Bosque is correct that they are unlikely to understand and would not use the vosotros form which is almost exclusively used in Spain! (Although Argentina uses vos it is not used in the same way!).

They would understand and use the Ustedes form ¿(Ustedes) Son de Puerto Rico?/¿(Ellos) Son de Puerto Rico?

I am using the personal pronoun Ustedes here because son can mean you or they (plural forms)

In English, statements are made using the subject + verb order You are and questions are made by reversing this order: Are you English? or Where are you from?/ Where do you come from?

In Spanish, as also with French, you can simply turn something into a question without reversing this subject + verb order You simply add the question (interrogation) mark

ex: 1 statement: Eres de España =You are from Spain.

Question: ¿Eres de España? = Are you from Spain?

The personal pronoun tu is not necessary here and native speakers would not use it because the familiar form can only refer to you (familiar and singular form)

statement 2 Quiere montar en su bicicleta = He wants to ride his bike (bicycle)

Question: ¿Quiere montar en su bicicleta? = Does he want to ride his bike?

I hope this helps

Answer 6

I'm learning Spanish in order to speak it in Spanish & have been told not to waste too much time worrying about vosotros, but simply to realise it exists & have a feel for its sounds, which do seem pretty intuitive. I expect most of my conversations will be on a one-one-one basis with strangers, in which case I'll use usted, or on a one-on-one basis with more familiar acquaintances (if I'm lucky enough to make any Spanish-speaking friends), in which case I'll use tu. I won't use vosotros, but if it's used towards me & my entourage, I hope I'll catch its gist.

Aprendo el español para hablarlo en España y entiendo que no es necesario ocuparme demasiado sobre vosotros, pero saber que la palabra existe y quedarme sensible a sus sonidos, que paracen más bien naturales. Espero que la mayoría de mis charlas seran uno a uno con los desconocidos, y en este caso voy a usar usted, o uno a uno con personas más bien conocidas (si tenga la suerte de hacer amigos hablantes español), y en ese caso voy a usar tu. No usare vosotros, pero si se habla hasta mi y mi séquito, espero que podría capturar la esencia.