In Spanish grammar, () is the use of as a second-person singular pronoun, along with its associated verbal forms, in certain regions where the language is spoken. In most of those regions it replaces , i.e. the use of the pronoun and its verbal forms. can also be found in the context of using verb conjugations for with as the subject pronoun (verbal voseo).

In all regions with , the corresponding unstressed object pronoun is and the corresponding possessive is .

is used extensively as the second-person singular in Rioplatense Spanish (Argentina and Uruguay), Paraguayan Spanish, Eastern Bolivia, Chilean Spanish, and much of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica); in Mexico, in the southern regions of Chiapas and parts of Oaxaca. It is rarely used, if at all, in places such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

In the Rioplatense dialect, the usage of is prevalent, even in mainstream film, media and music. In Argentina, particularly from the second half of the 20th century, it has become very common to see billboards and other advertising campaigns using .

is present in some regions of other countries, for instance in the Maracucho Spanish of Zulia State, Venezuela (see Venezuelan Spanish), the Azuero Peninsula of Panama, in a few departments in Colombia, and in parts of Ecuador (Sierra down to Esmeraldas). In Peru, is present in certain Andean regions and Cajamarca, but the younger generations have ceased to use it. It is also present in Judaeo-Spanish, spoken by Sephardic Jews, where it is the archaic plural form that replaced.

is seldom taught to students of Spanish as a second language, and its precise usage varies across different regions. Nevertheless, in recent years, it has become more commonly accepted across the Hispanophone world as a valid part of regional dialects.

Attitudes

In some countries, the pronoun vos is used with family and friends (T-form), like tú in other varieties of Spanish, and contrasts with the respectful usted (V-form used with third person) which is used with strangers, elderly, and people of higher socioeconomic status; appropriate usage varies by dialect. In Central America, vos can be used among those considered equals, while usted maintains its respectful usage. In Ladino, the pronoun usted is completely absent, so the use of vos with strangers and elders is the standard.

Voseo was long considered a backward or uneducated usage by prescriptivist grammarians. Many Central American intellectuals, themselves from nations, have condemned the usage of in the past.

History

Classical Latin, and the Vulgar Latin from which Romance languages such as Spanish are descended, had only two second-person pronounsthe singular and the plural . Starting in the early Middle Ages, however, languages such as French and Spanish began to attach honorary significance to these pronouns beyond literal number.

The standard formal way to address a person one was not on familiar terms with was to address such a person as ("your grace", originally abbreviated as ) in the singular and in the plural. Because of the literal meaning of these forms, they were accompanied by the corresponding third-person verb forms. Other formal forms of address included ("your excellence", contracted phonetically to ) and ("your lordship/ladyship", contracted to ). Today, both and are considered to be informal pronouns, with being somewhat synonymous with in regions where both are used. This was the situation when the Spanish language was brought to the Río de la Plata area (around Buenos Aires and Montevideo) and to Chile.

In time, lost currency in Spain but survived in a number of areas in Spanish-speaking America: Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia (east), Uruguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and some smaller areas. The use of tú rather than vos is most associated with areas that were in regular contact with the Iberian Peninsula: Mexico, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Equatorial Guinea. was used as a noun phrase until the late 17th century, when it pronomialized into ().

Usage

Vos in relation to other forms of tú

The independent disjunctive pronoun also replaces , from the set of forms. That is, is both nominative and the form to use after prepositions. Therefore, ("for you") corresponds to the form , etc.

The preposition-pronoun combination ("with you") is used for the form .<br/>

The direct and indirect object form is used in both and . while the standard Spanish spoken in the country does not. The Chavacano language below in comparison of other Chavacano dialects and level of formality with in both subject and possessive pronouns. Note the mixed and co-existing usages of , and .

{| class="wikitable"

!&nbsp;

!

!

!

!

|-

|2nd person singular

| (common/informal)<br> (familiar)<br> (formal)

| (common)<br> (familiar)<br> (formal)

| (common/informal)<br> (formal)

| (formal)

(informal)

|-

|2nd person plural

| (common)<br> (familiar)<br> (formal)

|<br>

|<br><br><br>

|

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable"

!&nbsp;

!

!

|-

|2nd person singular

| (common)<br> (familiar)<br> (familiar)<br> (familiar)<br> (formal)

|

|-

|2nd person plural

| (common)<br> (familiar)<br> (formal)

|

|-

|}

Conjugation with vos

All modern conjugations derive from Old Spanish second person plural , , , and (as in , 'you are'). The 14th and 15th centuries saw an evolution of these conjugations, with originally giving , giving (or ), giving , and giving .

In the case of the ending -ís (such as in comís, podís, vivís, erís, venís), the final -s is pronounced like any other final in Chilean Spanish. It is most often pronounced as an aspiration similar to the 'h' sound in English. It can also be pronounced as a fricative , or be dropped completely. Its variable pronunciation is a phonological rather than a morphological phenomenon. *(andá/andate) || id

|-

! hablar

| to speak || habla || hablá || hablad

|-

! callar

| to become silent || calla || callá || callad

|-

! soltar

| to release/let go || suelta || soltá || soltad

|-

! comer

| to eat || come || comé || comed

|-

! mover

| to move || mueve || mové || moved

|-

! venir

| to come || ven || vení ‡||venid

|-

! poner

| to put || pon || poné || poned

|-

! salir

| to leave || sal || salí || salid

|-

! tener

| to have || ten || tené || tened

|-

! decir

| to say || di || decí ‡ || decid

|-

! pedir

| to ask/order || pide || pedí || pedid

|}

Again, the conjugation of tú has far more irregularities, whereas vos has only one irregular verb in the affirmative imperative.

In Chile, the general vos conjugation is not used in the affirmative imperative.

Subjunctive

In most places where voseo is used, it is applied also in the subjunctive. In the Río de la Plata region, both the tú-conjugation and the voseo conjugation are found, the tú-form being more common. In this variety, some studies have shown a pragmatic difference between the tú-form and the vos-form, such that the vos form carries information about the speaker's belief state, and can be stigmatized. For example, in Central America the subjunctive and negative command form is no mintás, and in Chile it is no mintái; however, in Río de la Plata both no mientas and no mintás are found. Real Academia Española models its voseo conjugation tables on the most frequent, unstigmatized Río de la Plata usage and therefore omits the subjunctive voseo.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"

|-

! style="background:#e0e0ff;"|Central America<sup>1</sup><br/>Bolivia

! style="background:#e0e0ff;"|Río de la Plata region

! style="background:#e0e0ff;"|Chile

! style="background:#e0e0ff;"|Venezuela (Zulia)<br/>Panama (Azuero)

! style="background:#e0e0ff;"|meaning

|-

| No quiero que mintás. || No quiero que mientas. || No quiero que mintái.

|No quiero que mintáis.|| I don't want you to lie.

|-

| No temás. || No temas. || No temái.

|No temáis.|| Do not fear.

|-

| Que durmás bien || Que duermas bien. || Que durmái bien.

|Que durmáis bien.|| Sleep well.

|-

| No te preocupés. || No te preocupes. || No te preocupís. || No te preocupéis.|| Don't worry.

|-

| colspan=5 | <sup>1</sup>including areas in Colombia with voseo, e.g. the Paisa region.

|}

Verbal voseo and pronominal voseo

  • 'Verbal voseo refers to the use of the verb conjugation of vos regardless of which pronoun is used. Vos is now primarily used orally with friends and family in Cartago, Guanacaste province, the San José metropolitan area and near the Nicaraguan border and in advertising signage. Usted is the primary form in other areas and with strangers. Tuteo is rarely used, but when it is used in speech by a Costa Rican, it is commonly considered fake and effeminate.
  1. El Salvador – three-tiered system is used to indicate the degree of respect or familiarity: usted, tú, vos. Usted expresses distance and respect; tú corresponds to an intermediate level of familiarity, but not deep trust; vos is the pronoun of maximum familiarity and solidarity and also lack of respect.

Countries where voseo is extensive, but not predominant

In South America:

  1. Bolivia – in the Lowlands of Eastern Bolivia—with mestizo, Criollo and German descendants majority—(Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija and the Lowlands of La Paz) voseo is used universally; while in the Highlands of Western Bolivia—with indigenous peoples majority—(highlands of La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba) tú is predominant, but there is still a strong use of voseo, especially in verb forms.
  2. Chile – verbal voseo and pronominal tú is used in informal situations, whereas pronominal voseo is reserved only for very intimate situations or to offend someone. In every other situation and in writing, the normal tú or usted pronouns are used.

Countries where voseo occurs in some areas

In the following countries, voseo is used only in certain areas:

  • Colombia – in the following departments:
  • In the west (along the Pacific coast):
  • Chocó
  • Valle del Cauca
  • Cauca
  • Nariño
  • In the center – primarily the Paisa region (Antioquia, Risaralda, Quindío, and Caldas Departments).
  • In the (north)east:
  • Norte de Santander – Ocaña region
  • La Guajira
  • Cesar
  • Cuba – in Camagüey Province, often used alongside tú.
  • Ecuador – in the Sierra, the center, and Esmeraldas.
  • Mexico – widely used in the countryside of the state of Chiapas by indigenous populations and becoming rare among the same groups in the state of Tabasco.
  • Panama – in the west along the border with Costa Rica.
  • Peru – in some areas in both the Northern and Southern ends of the country.
  • Puerto Rico – At the eastern end of the island in Fajardo.
  • The Philippines – among Chavacano speakers in Mindanao and Luzon,