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.
|
|
|
|
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
