VOSOTROS

Vosotros is the second-person plural informal pronoun in Spanish, used to address a group of people in a familiar or informal setting. It is the subject form corresponding to "you all" and is primarily used in Spain and in some communities outside it. In contemporary standard Spanish, the formal second-person plural is ustedes, which covers both formal and informal address in most of Latin America.

Conjugation and usage

Vosotros forms govern a distinct set of verb endings. In the present indicative, typical endings are -áis, -éis, -ís: habláis (you all speak), coméis (you all eat), vivís (you all live). The preterite uses -asteis, -isteis, -isteis for -ar, -er, -ir verbs respectively: hablasteis, comisteis, vivisteis. The imperfect uses -abais, -íais, -íais: hablábais, comíais, vivíais. The future for all verbs ends in -éis: hablaréis. The present subjunctive is habléis, comáis, viváis. The affirmative imperative is hablad, comed, vivid; the negative is no habléis, no comáis, no viváis. The forms reflect gender in the third-person plural of pronouns (vosotros as masculine or mixed gender, vosotras as feminine).

Pronouns, determiners, and pronoun usage

Vosotros is used with the reflexive pronoun os (os habláis, os cuidáis). Possessive adjectives are vuestro/vuestra/vuestros/vuestras, matching the gender and number of the noun they modify. In many dialects, including most of Latin America, ustedes replaces vosotros for both informal and formal address.

Regional variation

The use of vosotros is characteristic of Spain and parts of the Caribbean and other communities with historic ties to Spain. In Latin America, vosotros is generally uncommon in everyday speech, where ustedes is standard.