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7.2: Vosotros

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    209752
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    Overview

    Most of the Spanish-speaking world uses "ustedes" to address multiple people at once, regardless of whether the situation is formal or informal. In most parts of Spain (not including Andalusia and the Canary Islands) however, the "vosotros" form is used in informal situations.

     

    Indicativo

    Presente

    To conjugate the present indicative in the vosotros form, you use the same root as for the nosotros form, and add the following endings:

    Conjugar el presente del indicativo
    -ar -er -ir
    -áis (ejemplo: habláis) -éis (ejemplo: coméis) -ís (ejemplo: vivís)

    Recall that for stem-changing verbs, the nosotros (and therefore the vosotros) form behaves differently from other forms and does not take on the stem change. A few examples:

    poder: podéis

    dormir: dormís

    A few irregulars:

    ser: sois

    estar: estáis (this is irregular only in that it keeps the accent on the á, which the nosotros form does not)

    ir: vais

    haber: habéis

     

    Pretérito

    To conjugate the preterit indicative in the vosotros form, you use the same root as for the nosotros form, and add the following endings:

    Conjugar el pretérito
    -ar -er/-ir
    -asteis (ejemplo: hablasteis) -isteis (ejemplo: vivisteis)

    This holds true for all verbs, including irregulars such as:

    ser/ir: fuisteis

    tener: tuvisteis

    decir: dijisteis

     

    Imperfecto

    To conjugate the imperfect indicative in the vosotros form, use the same root as for any other form, and add the following endings:

    Conjugar el imperfecto
    -ar -er/-ir
    -abais (ejemplo: hablabais) -íais (ejemplo: comíais)
    The three irregulars:

    ir: ibais

    ser: erais

    ver: veíais

     

    Futuro

    To conjugate the future tense in the vosotros form, use the same infinitive (or irregular root) as for any other future form, and add the ending "-éis": hablar → hablaréis; comer → comeréis; vivir → viviréis; tener → tendréis; etc.

     

    Condicional

    To conjugate the conditional tense in the vosotros form, use the same infinitive (or irregular root) as for any other conditional form, and add the ending "-íais": hablar → hablaríais; comer → comeríais; vivir → viviríais; tener → tendríais; etc

     

     

    Mandatos

    Recall that for informal commands such as "vosotros", the command form is different depending on whether the command is affirmative (i.e. telling someone "yes, do this") or negative (i.e. telling them "no, don't do this").

    Affirmative vosotros command forms, used only in Spain for informal situations, simply change the -r from the infinitive into a -d ending for the affirmative (poner → poned). There are no irregulars.

    Negative vosotros commands, like all other negative commands, use the present subjunctive.

    Mandatos y pronombres

    When attaching two pronouns to the end of affirmative vosotros commands, an accent mark is added to the verb:

    • Decid la verdad. >> Decidme la verdad. >> Decídmela.

    ONLY when attaching the reflexive pronoun os to affirmative vosotros commands, the "d" is removed:

    • Bañad al perro cada noche. >> Bañadlo. , BUT
    • Bañaos (a vosotros mismos) cada noche.

     

    The table below summarizes both the affirmative and negative forms of vosotros commands.

    Formas de los mandatos

     

    affirmative

    negative

    vosotros

    -ad, -ed, -id

    hablad, comed, vivid, traed, jugar, oíd

    present subjunctive:

    no habléis, no comáis, no viváis, no traigáis, no juguéis, no oigáis

    This section incorporates some information from 52. El modo imperativo / Commands by Enrique Yepes, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.

     

    Subjuntivo

    Presente del subjuntivo  

    To conjugate the present subjunctive in the vosotros form, you use the same root as for the nosotros form, and add the following endings:

    Conjugar el presente del subjuntivo
    -ar -er/-ir
    -éis (ejemplo: habléis) -áis (ejemplo: viváis)

    This holds true for all stem-changing verbs, such as:

    querer: queráis

    sentir: sintáis

    dormir: durmáis

    The irregulars:

    dar: deis

    estar: estéis

    ser: seáis

    haber: hayáis

    ir: vayáis

    saber: sepáis

     

     

    Imperfecto del Subjuntivo

    To conjugate the imperfect subjunctive in the vosotros form, use the third person plural preterit root and drop the -ron, just as with any other imperfect subjunctive form. There are two possible endings: -rais and -seis

    This holds true for all verbs, such as:

    hablar : hablarais / hablaseis

    comer: comierais / comieseis

    vivir: vivierais / vivieseis

    decir: dijerais / dijeseis

    ser: fuerais / fueseis

     

    Tiempos compuestos

    To conjugate any of the compound tenses in the vosotros form, you simply need to know the corresponding conjugation of haber and pair it with the past participle:

    Conjugations of haber
    Tense of haber Vosotros form of haber Used to form the...

    present indicative

    habéis present perfect indicative (ejemplo: habéis dicho)
    imperfect indicative habíais pluperfect indicative (ejemplo: habíais comido)
    future habréis future perfect (ejemplo: habréis estudiado)
    conditional habríais conditional perfect (ejemplo: habríais ido)
    present subjunctive hayáis present perfect subjunctive (ejemplo: hayáis hecho)
    imperfect subjunctive hubierais / hubieseis pluperfect subjunctive (ejemplo: hubierais venido)

     

    Pronombres

    Subject Pronoun Vosotrxs Ejemplo: Vosotros queréis comer.
    Direct / Indirect / Reflexive Pronoun Os

    Ejemplo: Os quiero.

    Ejemplo: ¿Queréis el regalo? Os lo doy.

    Ejemplo: Os laváis la cara cada noche.

    After a preposition Vosotrxs Ejemplo: Os quiero a vosotras y por eso quiero pasar tiempo con vosotras.

     


    7.2: Vosotros is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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