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VOSOTROS
WHAT IS VOSOTROS?
  • Vosotros is a subject pronoun used only in Spain. It is one of four subject pronouns in Spanish that are translated as you.
  • It and its own unique verb forms are used to address a group of two or more persons.  It is informal, and is used in situations in which all persons being addressed are ones that speaker would address individually as tú.
  • Latin American speakers use ustedes in all situations, formal and informal, when addressing two or more persons.
  • There is a feminine form vosotras.  As with nosotras and ellas, it is used only when the group referred to is all female.  Vosotros, as with ellos and nosotros, is used when group is all male or mixed.
  • As with any subject pronoun, vosotros/as is omitted when not desired for emphais or clarity.
  • In addition to verb forms, there are possessive forms and object pronouns that correspond to vosotros.  See below.
WHY LEARN VOSOTROS?
Vosotros is very much in use in Spain; those interested in using Spanish as spoken there should learn it and use it.  Those interested in Latin American Spanish do not need to acquire active use of vosotros and its forms, but should be able to recognize and understand it. 
GRAMMATICAL FORMS CORRESPONDING TO VOSOTROS
VERB FORMS
In every conjugation in every tense, vosotros has its own verb form; here is a summary.
Tense
Class
Ending
Example(s)
Present Indicative1
 -ar -áis:  habláis
-er -éis: entendéis
-ir -ís: recibís
irreg:  ir
---
 vais
irreg:  ser
---
 sois
Preterite
 -ar -asteis hablasteis
-er/-ir -isteis entendisteis, recibisteis
irreg:  dar
---
 disteis
irreg:  ir/ser
---
 fuisteis
Imperfect Indicative
 -ar -abais hablabais
-er/-ir -íais entendíais, recibíais
irreg:  ir
---
 ibais
irreg:  ser
---
 erais
Future
 all verbs -éis hablaréis, recibiréis
Conditional
 all verbs -íais entenderíais, recibiríais
Present Subjunctive2
 -ar -éis habléis
-er/-ir -áis entendáis, recibáis
irreg:  haber
---
 hayáis
irreg:  ir
---
 vayáis
irreg:  saber
---
 sepáis
irreg:  ser
---
 seáis
Imperfect Subjunctive
-ar -arais hablarais
-er/-ir -ierais entendierais, recibierais
Affirmative Imperative
(non-reflexive)
 Infinitive minus r plus d3 hablad
entended
recibid
Affirmative Imperative
(reflexive)4
 -ar -aos sentaos
-er -eos volveos
-ir -íos divertíos
 
  1. There are no stem changes in vosotros forms in the present indicative.
  2. In the present subjunctive, stem changes do occur in vosotros forms in -ir verbs: prefiráis, sirváis, durmáis
  3. There are no exceptions.
  4. All reflexive verbs drop the -d except for -irse (idos).
OBJECT PRONOUNS
 
  • Direct, Indirect and Reflexive: os
    • Os veo frecuentemente en la biblioteca.
    • Os voy a explicar la lección.
    • Os conocéis, ¿no?
  • Prepositional: vosotros, vosotras
    • Quiero ir con vosotros al cine.
    • A vosotras os gustan esas películas, ¿no?
  
POSSESSIVES
 
  • Vuestro (-a, -os, -as) functions as adjective1 and pronoun2:
    1. Vuestro hijo (vuestra hija) conoce a mis hijos.
    2. Nuestra casa es roja; la vuestra es verde.
 
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