Due to the popularity of Latin American Spanish in the United States, many Spanish programs nowadays do not teach the vosotros form, which is mostly used in Spain. Even advanced learners of Spanish may not know the vosotros meaning: It’s a subject pronoun for a plural “you” that is also included in some verb conjugation lists. Especially if you will be traveling to Spain, consider learning the vosotros form when you choose to learn Peninsular Spanish.
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What does vosotros mean in Spanish and when should I use it?
Vosotros means “you” in the plural form, and it’s used as a subject of a sentence. The equivalent in English might be “you all” or “y’all” in certain areas of the United States. Typically, vosotros is used in most of Spain aside from the western parts of Andalucia in southern Spain. Of course, you will find Spaniards in all parts of the world, so you will hear the vosotros form spoken by anyone from the areas we just mentioned.
Spanish is a language with formal and informal use. Formal address is used for strangers, professionals, and people older than ourselves and the informal is used for everyone else. However, these practices can vary from region to region and from family to family. You’ll need to pay attention to Spanish grammar gender rules, such as whether a pronoun is singular or plural and formal or informal, in addition to the noun’s classified gender.
When you’re addressing yourself to a heterogeneous group or a group of men, you use vosotros, and when you are addressing yourself to a group of just women, you use vosotras. This, of course, is only when you are speaking to someone who uses the vosotros form. Nowadays, the topic of gender neutral Spanish pronouns is hotly debated in linguistic and popular circles.
Why pronouns like vosotros are so important in Spanish
The Spanish pronouns form the basis for verb conjugations and each Spanish verb has a different conjugation depending on the pronoun. Even though subjects (including subject pronouns) are optional in Spanish, mastering them is a key part of learning the verb conjugations.
Here are the subject pronouns in Spanish, with the feminine options listed for first and second person plural:
Subject pronouns
| Point of view | Spanish | English |
| first person singular | yo | I |
| second person singular(informal) | tú | you |
| third person singular(formal) | él / ella / usted | he /she / you |
| first person plural | nosotros / as | we |
| second person plural(informal) | vosotros / as* | you |
| third person plural | ellos / ustedes | they / you |
*used in most of Spain
How to conjugate regular verbs, including vosotros, in the present tense
The conjugations of the vosotros form are slightly different from the ustedes form which is more commonly used in Latin America. To give you the whole picture, we’ve included all of the conjugations for regular verbs in the present tense, which is an indicative mood used for talking about facts or clear intentions. We’ll use the verb hablar (to talk) in these examples.
- Vosotros habláis mucho durante la clase. = You talk a lot during class.
| Spanish -AR verb | English |
| yo hablo | I speak |
| tú hablas | you speak |
| él / ella / usted habla | he / she / you speak(s) |
| nosotros / as hablamos | we speak |
| vosotros / as habláis | you speak |
| ellos / ustedes hablan | they / you speak |
From this you can see that the vosotros conjugation is the same as the third person singular with the “is” added at the end. That addition necessitates the addition of the accent over the “á.”
Now, let’s look at the next conjugation. We use this same formula for -ER verbs in the second person plural informal. This tense is also called familiar, because we use it with people we’re familiar with. In this case, we’ll use comer (to eat).
- Vosotras coméis muy temprano. = You eat really early.
| Spanish -ER verb | English |
| yo como | I eat |
| tú comes | you eat |
| él / ella / usted come | he / she / you eat(s) |
| nosotros / as comemos | we eat |
| vosotros / as coméis | you eat |
| ellos / ustedes comen | they / you eat |
Finally, we have the -IR verbs, whose formula is slightly different. In this case, take the verb root without the suffix and add “ís.” The verb we’ll use is vivir (to live).
- Vosotros vivís lejos de la escuela. = You live far from the school.
| Spanish -IR verb | English |
| yo vivo | I live |
| tú vives | you live |
| él / ella / usted vive | he / she / you live(s) |
| nosotros / as vivimos | we live |
| vosotros / as vivís | you live |
| ellos / ustedes viven | they / you live |
If you have previously studied the verb conjugations without the vosotros form, you’ll feel more confident using and recognizing them after looking through these charts.
Conjugations of regular verbs using vosotros in other tenses
Since there are 18 Spanish verb tenses, it’s not possible to cover every possible conjugation of the vosotros form here. You can find the most important conjugations in the Spanish Dictionary, which gives you the nifty option of checking or unchecking the vosotros form for the conjugations.
The chart below provides the rest of the indicative tenses in Spanish for regular verbs: preterite (past), imperfect (for habitual actions in the past), and conditional (for possible actions). We cover the same modal verbs in the present tense, as above: hablar (to speak), comer (to eat), and vivir (to live).
- ¿Vosotros vivisteis en París seis años? = You lived in Paris for six years? (preterite)
- Vosotras hablabais a tu mamá todos los días. = You would call your mother every day. (imperfect)
| Verb Tense | Vosotros –AR verbs | Vosotros –ER verbs | Vosotros –IR verbs |
| present | habláis | coméis | vivís |
| preterite | hablasteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| imperfect | hablabais | comíais | vivíais |
| conditional | hablaríais | comeríais | viviríais |
Can you find the similarities both horizontally and vertically in the above chart?
How to conjugate irregular verb tenses in the vosotros form
Unlike some other subject pronouns in Spanish, there are only a few irregular verbs in the vosotros form. They include vais (from ir) and sois (from ser) in the present tense, and erais (from ser), ibais (from ir), and veíais (from ver) in the imperfect tense. For example:
- Vosotras sois mujeres excepcionales. = You are exceptional women.
- Vosotros veíais películas con tus papás. = You would watch movies with your parents.
For the vosotros form of almost all irregular verbs in the preterite, use the verb stem of the present tense plus the regular endings, included in the chart for convenience. This chart includes irregular verb conjugations with vosotros in the indicative mood, but omits the imperfect, already listed above.
Here’s are examples for each tense:
- Vosotros encontráis la respuesta. = You found the answer. (present)
- Vosotras encontrasteis tu hermana! = You found your sister! (preterite)
- Vosotros encontraríais la verdad. = You would find the truth. (conditional)
| Verb Ending | Present | Preterite | Conditional |
| -AR verbs | regular stem + áis | regular verb stem + -asteis | infinitive + -íais |
| -ER verbs | regular stem + -ís | regular verb stem + -isteis | infinitive + -íeis |
| -IR verbs | regular stem + -ís | regular verb stem + -isteis | infinitive + -íeis |
Is there a different direct object pronoun for vosotros?
Yes, there’s a different direct object pronoun in Spanish for vosotros. It’s os. You’ll need to use os as a direct object pronoun when using the vosotros form, rather than te when referring to one person.
- Yo os amo = I love you (in the plural form).
What’s the difference between vosotros, vos, and voseo?
Vosotros (plural you) is a subject pronoun to indicate the person or group doing the action. Vos (you) is an object pronoun used when the subject directs its action toward someone. The Spanish voseo refers to the use of vos as a subject pronoun instead of tú.
Here are some examples that show the difference between these very distinct words:
- Vosotras jugáis fútbol los sábados. = You play soccer on Saturdays.
- Nosotros os amáis. = We love you.
- Se usa voseo en varios países de Suramérica. = Voseo is used in various countries in South America.
Top reasons to learn the meaning of vosotros and its forms
Although learning the vosotros form is less common in schools and universities in the United States, there are various reasons to learn it.
- Traveling to or living in Spain: The primary reason to learn the vosotros form is if you’ll be traveling to Spain. This will make your trip much easier because you’ll be able to understand others better and faster. However, if you didn’t learn this form, many Spaniards will still be able to understand you.
- Doing business with Spaniards: If you do business with Spaniards, they will notice when you make an effort to speak their form of Spanish, something that may help to close a deal down the road. Learning about cultural differences shows you care about the people with whom you build relationships.
- Reading a classic novel: If you want to read one of the classics, like Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quijote, it will be much easier to comprehend if you have learned the vosotros form.
- Broadening your knowledge: Learning the vosotros form is always possible even if you began with Latin American Spanish. Reading the rest of this article will help you get the gist of the vosotros form. If you plant that seed early on, it will be easier whenever you decide to tackle this pronoun and its corresponding verb conjugations.
Key takeaways about the vosotros meaning
Vosotros might not be the most common pronoun you ever learn about, but here are the important things to remember when you use it.
- It’s used more commonly in Spain than in Central and South America.
- Vosotros is a subject pronoun that means “you” in the plural form.
- It’s the familiar or informal form used with friends and family.
- The vosotros form has distinct verb conjugations.
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