Using "vos" instead of "tú" in Spanish

furrykef   Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:45 pm GMT
<< I don't think I wanna have to learn how to conjugate the same verb twice just because people in Argentina conjugate it diferrentely >>

You make it sound difficult. Learning Spanish verb conjugation forms is easy. You already have to learn how to conjugate it for yo, tú, nosotros, él/ella/usted, and ellos/ellas/ustedes. You'll probably end up learning vosotros as well. What's just one more form?

That said, no, I don't think it's really necessary...

- Kef
Guest   Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:14 pm GMT
The thing is that why would I have to learn another way of conjugating the verbs, just because people in Argentina does it that way? especially since if I talk to them in "Tu" form, (which is the normal one), they'll be able to understand me anyways, and in case I don’t understand what they’re saying, I could simply ask them to talk to me in "Tu", and they'll be able to do it.
furrykef   Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:45 am GMT
Well, voseo does see occasional use in novels, films, etc., so it's still good to know.
chico   Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:58 am GMT
i live in central america. my first language is english but i have lived in two different spanish countries as a missionary and have traveled in these countries quite a bit.

one rarely hears vos unless you are part of the family. i have often heard " se usa vos solamente por lo mas intimo". and that is pretty much the way it is in central america anyway. sometimes you will have someone speak to you in tu if they want to be a little less informal and you are about the same age. but 99 percent of the time it is usted. it has in many ways replace the other forms hear. children usually don't even talk to their parents with vos although the parents may say it to the child. but brothers and sisters will say it to each other. and of course among married couples, etc.

i have learned that it is simply better to say usted. people think it is funny when i say vos.
furrykef   Sat Jun 09, 2007 1:08 pm GMT
Where in Central America do you live?
Matthew   Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:50 pm GMT
I'm from the USA. Here, they teach the Spanish of mostly Mexico, so both vos and vosotros get no mention. Now, I don't really take classes as much as I study on my own (saving up for supermemo, too. :P). I don't actually plan on using the "vos" forms, but I do want to at least be familiar with them.
furrykef   Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:02 pm GMT
<< Here, they teach the Spanish of mostly Mexico, so both vos and vosotros get no mention. >>

I studied for 3 years in high school... our text books always provided the "vosotros" conjugations, but we never actually learned them, and they were not used in the lessons (at least, not any of the lessons we actually studied). As far as I can recall, "vos" got no mention, but that's not too surprising.

<< Now, I don't really take classes as much as I study on my own (saving up for supermemo, too. :P). >>

I recommend Mnemosyne over SuperMemo, unless you actually need SuperMemo's incremental reading features or fancy formatting. Or you can use an old, free version of SuperMemo, and upgrade it if you have to.

- Kef
Matthew   Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:20 pm GMT
Thank you furrykef! I'll check it out.
Kess   Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:33 pm GMT
''I studied for 3 years in high school... our text books always provided the "vosotros" conjugations, but we never actually learned them, and they were not used in the lessons (at least, not any of the lessons we actually studied). As far as I can recall, "vos" got no mention, but that's not too surprising.''


the same is true of TU and VOS in Brazil
they are written in the textbook, but we don't have to memorize these forms, just be able to recognize if/when needed.
chico   Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:36 pm GMT
i live in belize which is of course more english, but i pastor a church comprised mainly of people from honduras and el salvador. i did my pastoral internship in honduras.

i have also lived with mexicans in texas and i helped with a mission in gulfport, ms where we worked with people from all over. i have had a wide range of experience with people from different countries. sometimes i don't know which word will be understood. i just have to use the one that comes to mind.

and it doesn't help that people in belize tend to blend their spanish with belizean creole after they've been here a while. just like people in the states blend it with english.

anybody else here from central america?
Guest   Sat Jun 09, 2007 10:52 pm GMT
It doesn't matter if you use "vos" or "tu". If you speak Spanish, you suck no matter what.
elbarto   Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:24 am GMT
For people like you is that the world hates your country.
kris   Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:59 am GMT
I think anyone learning a language should learn each aspect of it, including "vos" and "vosotros". Some teachers tend not to teach them because they figure some students will never go to some places or the teachers themselves are unfamiliar with it so they think it isn't useful. If you learn all parts of the language you can go anywhere you want and enjoy the culture for what it has. Even though many people here are saying "vos" is only spoken in Argentina, they are wrong. my family is from Colombia and they use it. In fact, different regions from different parts of the Spanish/Castillian speaking world use it. Just because some people have yet to be there or have yet to meet anyone from there doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Plus, if you are learning Spanish you shouldn't put yourself at a disadvantage by not learning vos and vosotros. You would want you go to Spain and Argentina(or the other countries that use vos) and show that you made an effort to learn about their culture.

check the website:

http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=voseo
Kess   Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:01 am GMT
''Well, voseo does see occasional use in novels, films, etc., so it's still good to know.''

All Argentinian soap operas use VOSEO:
try SOS MI VIDA ;)

and Spanish and Mexican understand it perfectly.
A foreigner neglecting VOSEO might not be familiar tho'
Franco   Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:43 am GMT
Yo te recomiendo que hablás de vos solamente si querés parecer SALADO.

No tengas miedo de vosear, usá el pronombre 'vos' cuanto quieras.