Vos

Vos is a second-person singular pronoun used in several Spanish dialects, most notably Rioplatense Spanish in Argentina and Uruguay, and in parts of Paraguay and Central America. It functions as the informal “you,” contrasting with tú (informal in many dialects) and usted (formal). In voseo varieties, verbs are conjugated differently from the tú forms, a system linguists refer to as voseo.

In the present indicative, common vos forms end in -ás, -és, or -ís: hablás (hablar), comés (comer), vivís (vivir). Other widely used vos forms include sos (ser), tenés (tener), estás (estar), vas (ir), and, in some regions, andás (andar). The pronoun vos is typically used with the verb, but it is often omitted because the verb ending signals the subject.

Regional distribution and usage vary. Voseo is most characteristic of Argentina and Uruguay, where it is standard in informal speech and widely encountered in media and literature. It is also used in parts of Paraguay and several Central American countries, with variation by age, setting, and level of formality. In formal writing or formal speech, usted or tú may be preferred depending on the country and context, while voseo remains common in everyday conversation.

Historical notes: the term “voseo” refers to this pronoun and its verb conjugations. Its origins trace back to the Latin plural vos, which in certain dialects came to be used as an informal singular, replacing or coexisting with tú in particular regions.