Was the vosotros form used as a formal singular form?
So, I have an odd question. I've watched a few movies in Spanish now, and a few times I've been really confused. This vosotros phenomenon first occured in Pan's Labyrinth, where Pan approached the girl with "vosotros". -"Lo hais hecho?"
On this stage I just assumed that the Fauno animal like creature was just dumb or very ancient. But then I watched The pirates of the caribbean. And in the first scene I noticed the same, the man adressed the girl in "vosotros" form.
So my question is, has the vosotros form ever been used as a super formal way of speaking in old Spanish?
4 Answers
If you read older Spanish plays like "El Burlador de Sevilla" or "El Conde Lucanor" you'll notice the pronouns "vos" and "vosotros" used to mean "usted" and it's conjugated like "vosotros".
I don't remember the entire history, but basically medieval Spanish used "vos" respectfully. "Usted" came above "vos", and "tú" below it. Most countries have lost either "vos" or "tú", with one supplanting the other entirely (some countries like Guatemala still have all 3).
I wasn't aware that any dialects of Spanish kept this "vos-conjugated-as-vosotros" feature, but I'm guessing in parts of rural Spain this feature was retained and you have a vosotros conjugation acting as respect.
I always remember when trying to learn Spanish grammar that "vosotros" was the informal plural "you." (Note: "nosotros" - plural and "vosotros" - plural)
In many places, however, the people use "ustedes" as the formal and informal plural "you." I guess it's fewer conjugations to remember.
When my sister-in-law (from the U.K.) was trying to understand the "usted/ustedes" conjugation, which is the same as the third person conjugation, I explained it using the British Royal Family. When one addressed a king or a queen, one would always speak to him or her in the third person out of respect. For instance, "Your Majesty plays well" (conjugated like "He plays well" instead of "You play well.") In Español, "Usted juega bien" (como "El juega bien" en lugar de "Tu juegas bien.")
This goes right along with Jubilado's post.
The fawn in Pan's Labyrinth does seem to use an ancient courtly Spanish. My guess is that the "Vosotros" forms were used to speak to someone you considered at a higher rank in status. However, I also understand that there is an Argentinian use of "vos" corresponding to the "tú" forms elsewhere. So when the fawn asks the girl "¿Sois vos?" I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a formal speaking as if to royalty or if is just "quirky".
The word "usted" comes from "Vuestra meced" - your grace - and demonstrates that the second person plural form was used to speak to someone (singular) who is of a noble class.
I have some kids' books that I bought online (published recently) in which a king is referred to using vosotros.
