Grammarama Articles on Spanish

In this article we will expand on the discussion initiated in “The “voseo” in Argentina (Part I)” focusing on the verb forms that accompany the personal pronoun “vos” (“you” –singular- in informal social contexts). Recall that these forms tend to vary in all those places where the “voseo” is practiced, be it in Argentina, other regions of South America or Central America.

The following thoughts about Argentine “voseo” might seem trivial because of being simply and gradually explained, but the idea is that they be understood by all readers. Do not be intimidated if you have had a bad experience in elementary or secondary school when for Spanish exams they made us study the “past perfect tense of the subjunctive mood” and “simple past tense of the indicative mood,” now called “present perfect simple”! What baroque names! Our reflections will try to be much more accessible -- associating the verb forms and the communicative features of language.


The verbs and “vos”

It is known that we do actions or feel a certain kind of mood at specific times, whether in the past, the future, during the course of the present moment or as part of a daily routine. Grammarians have given the name “verbs” to words that represent these actions or types of mood. The verbs change form to refer to one or another moment in time, and these changes are called tenses.

The “voseo” is applied to all verbs and tenses of the Spanish language. We say “vos” when it is necessary to emphasize the presence of the other participant in the communicative exchange. (It happens the same with the other people we might be talking to or about –yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), usted (you formal), nosotros/as (we), vosotros-as (you plural), ustedes (you plural), ellos-as (they)—; any of these terms may be designated when needed). Let’s look at an example:  Five or six friends meet at someone’s house. At the beginning, the host asks each one successively: “Y vos, ¿cómo estás?” -“And you, how are you?”- (He/she could also say the name of each, instead of “you”).

Note that when a preposition precedes a personal pronoun, only two of those pronouns adopt special forms: “yo” (I) becomes “mí” and “tú” (you), “ti”. In accordance to this rule, whereas any preposition generally is followed by “ti”, instead of “tú”, in the case of “vos” there is no change. Let´s look some examples that include the preposition “sin” (without). Saint Theresa of Ávila, in her well-known poem “Vivir sin vivir en mí” (I live without living in myself), says to the God of the Christianity: “Mira que vivir sin ti no puedo” (“Look, I cannot live without You”). In  the song “Adiós Nonino”, with music by Astor Piazzolla and lyrics by Eladia Blázquez, the Italian-Argentine son says farewell to his father, an immigrant from Italy, whose loving nickname is “Nonino”. Here are his words: “Adiós Nonino... ¡qué largo sin vos, será el camino!”  (“Good-bye Nonino... how long will be the way without you !”). This farewell takes place since the death separates people who love each other.

The rule mentioned above allows for a few exceptions pertaining to “mí” and “ti”.  Let’s look one of these exceptions.  When the preposition “con” (with) precedes these two words, they are transformed into the syllables “-migo” and “-tigo.”  In contrast, if the preposition “con” precedes “vos,” the latter remains unchanged.   So, while in the “tuteo” we say “contigo,” (with you) in the “voseo” we say “con vos.”

This photo shows two young men encouraging Argentina in the Football World Cup. On the flag you can read the preposition "without" (sin) followed by "you" (vos). Class material for Spanish classes.

“Vos” and “tú” generally use the same verb forms. We say: “¿Vos llegaste a tiempo…?” (“Did you arrive in time to…?”) or “¿Tú llegaste a tiempo...?” (“Did you arrive in time to…?”). Only in two cases are the verb forms different: the present tense of the indicative mood and the affirmative command form (affirmative imperative mood).  These features are described in “The “voseo” in Argentina (Part III)” and “The “voseo” in Argentina (Part IV)”, respectively. Note that although the “voseo” is also applied to another verb forms (negative imperative mood and present tense of the subjunctive mood), its use has not been yet socially accepted as part of standard, cultivated Spanish language in Argentina.