pronouns that are used when other people are directly addressed. In the
first place, neither the standard 2nd person plural verb forms nor the asso-
ciated subject pronoun vosotrosare used in Latin America. (Vosotrosis
also absent from the speech encountered in the Canaries and much of
southern Spain.)
In their place, 3rd person plural endings are used, together with the
pronoun ustedes:
Spain (except Andalusia and Canaries) Latin America
Vosotros habláis Ustedes hablan
Vosotros coméis Ustedes comen
Vosotros vivís Ustedes viven
In addition, in large parts of Latin America, vosis used as the familiar 2nd
person singularsubject pronoun, in place of tú. This practice, known as
voseo, is normal in the River Plate area and in Central America. It does
not occur at all in Mexico (except for the far south), the Caribbean and
most of Peru. Elsewhere there is variation, although better educated
speakers, particularly in urban settings, tend to prefer tú.
Verb forms associated with vos
There is considerable variation across Latin America in the verb forms used
with vos. In the most widely accepted pattern, which prevails in the River
Plate area and in Central America, the verb forms for 2nd person singular
vosare identical to the equivalent túforms except in the present indicative
and in the imperative.
Vosin present indicative
In the present indicative the vosverb forms are derived from the equiva-
lent vosotros forms. In the case of -arand -erverbs the unstressed iof the
verb ending is deleted: cantáis> cantás.
Verbs in the -irconjugation have no unstressed iin the vosotros verb ending
and so, for -irverbs, the Latin American vosand Peninsular vosotrosforms
are identical in the present indicative:
30.2.1.1
30.2.1
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
41111
Forms of
address
307
