Vosotros Explained: Spain’s Informal You Plural

Vosotros is the Spain Spanish word for “you” when you are talking to more than one friend. If you already know tú for one person, vosotros (and vosotras for a group of women or girls) is the matching informal plural in most of Spain.

This page explains when to use it, the present endings you need first, how os and vuestro fit, and how ustedes contrasts in Spain and across América. For the wider Spain vs Latin America picture, see Spain Spanish vs Latin American Spanish. For building vosotros into a Castilian routine, see how to learn Castilian Spanish.

What is vosotros in Spain Spanish?

Vosotros is the informal plural “you”. You use it with people you would address as tú one by one: friends, family, classmates, children in many everyday settings.

At the time of writing, the DLE entry for vosotros defines it as the second-person plural pronoun form that, in nominative or vocative or after a preposition, designates the people the speaker is addressing. At the time of writing, the RAE’s DPD entry for vosotros says that, compared with ustedes, vosotros is the form used in most of Spain for informal address: it implies closeness and is used in familiar, informal or trusted contexts (see also the América note in that entry). In most of Spain ustedes is the formal plural in that contrast; the same DPD note points to América and some southern Spanish areas for the other pattern.

Vosotras is the feminine form when the whole group is female. Mixed groups take vosotros in standard Spain usage.

When do people use vosotros, and when ustedes in Spain and América?

In most of Spain the split is simple:

At the time of writing, the DPD entry for usted says that in most of Spain the plural ustedes has the same formal value, compared with vosotros, before it turns to América and southern Spain. The same entry notes that in all of América, and within Spain in western Andalusia and the Canaries, ustedes is the only form used for several addressees, in both formal and informal address.

At the time of writing, the DPD entry for vosotros says those vosotros forms, and the matching second-person plural verb forms, are unused in América and in some southern Spanish areas such as the Canaries and western Andalusia, where ustedes is used for the informal plural in place of vosotros.

So for a UK learner aiming at Madrid, Valencia or most of the peninsula: learn vosotros with friends. Keep ustedes for polite distance in most of Spain (América is different). If you travel in western Andalusia or the Canaries, expect more ustedes even among friends, as in América, and answer in the forms you hear.

How do you conjugate vosotros in the present?

Vosotros takes its own second-person plural endings. At the time of writing, the DPD entry for vosotros gives matching examples such as calláis, bebíais, escribisteis and saldréis. In the present indicative, the regular patterns look like this:

Ustedes uses the same endings as ellos / ellas in Spain and América: hablan, comen, viven, son, tienen, quieren, van, hacen. In most of Spain that ustedes set is the polite plural; across América it is the everyday plural for any group.

Affirmative commands for vosotros use forms such as hablad, comed and venid. Commands with ustedes look like the present subjunctive in Spain and América: hablen, coman, vengan.

What about os and vuestro?

Vosotros rarely travels alone. The unstressed object pronoun is os, and the possessive is vuestro / vuestra / vuestros / vuestras.

At the time of writing, the DLE entry for os defines os as the unstressed form of vosotros used in the dative or accusative for the people being addressed. Examples in that entry include Os miró and Os trajo un regalo.

With ustedes, use los / las / les and su / sus, not os or vuestro, in Spain and in América. At the time of writing, the DPD entry for usted notes that usted and ustedes take third-person clitics and the possessive su, not vuestro, in Spain and in América. That agreement holds whether ustedes is polite in Spain or everyday in América.

Why does ustedes take han, not habéis, in Spain and América?

Because ustedes is grammatically third person, even though it means “you”, in Spain and in América. Social formality is a separate question: in most of Spain ustedes is the polite plural, and in América (and western Andalusia and the Canaries) it also covers informal groups, but the verb stays third person either way.

At the time of writing, the DPD entry for usted explains that although the referent is a second person, grammatically usted is a third-person pronoun, so the verb must be third person. The same entry marks mixing ustedes with a second-person plural verb as incorrect, and gives the corrected pattern han trabajado hoy rather than habéis trabajado hoy, in Spain and in América. So ustedes takes han, not habéis, in Spain and in América alike.

If the group is informal in most of Spain, prefer vosotros habéis. If you are using ustedes, prefer ustedes han, whether the tone is polite in Spain or everyday in América.

Vosotros lines to say out loud

Say each line twice: once reading the Spanish, once from the English prompt.

¿Habéis visto esto? uses the Spain perfect with vosotros. That pairs with the perfect-for-today habit in pretérito perfecto vs indefinido. For greeting a group, ¿Cómo estáis? sits next to the lines in Greetings in Spain.

If the endings still feel stiff, practise them as chunks rather than letter by letter. How to sound more natural in Spanish covers that rhythm with Spain markers.

Common vosotros mistakes to avoid

• Skipping vosotros entirely for Spain. In most of the country friends expect it. Leaving it out makes your Spanish sound as if you learned for América by default.
• Using ustedes verb endings with vosotros. Vosotros hablan (mistake on purpose) should be vosotros habláis, because third-person endings like hablan go with ustedes in Spain and in América.
• Using os with ustedes. Say les gusta or los veo, not os gusta, because ustedes takes third-person clitics in Spain and in América.
• Assuming every region of Spain uses vosotros the same way. Western Andalusia and the Canaries often use ustedes for informal groups in place of vosotros, as in América.
• Translating “you guys” as ustedes with friends in Madrid. Prefer vosotros unless you want polite distance; ustedes is the formal plural in most of Spain, and the everyday plural in América.

How can I practise vosotros this week?

Pick five present forms (queréis, sois, tenéis, vais, habéis) and three os lines. Say them out loud daily in short questions. Absolute beginners can fold them into Spanish speaking practice for beginners and Spanish sentences to practise speaking.

Spanish Out Loud is coming soon to iPhone. You learn to speak Spain Spanish out loud with Carlitos, a friendly AI conversation partner who speaks Spain Spanish, corrects you gently and remembers what you tell him. Practise ¿Qué queréis? and ¿Os apetece un café? with him until the vosotros endings feel automatic.

Vosotros is a small system: the pronoun, the matching endings, os and vuestro, plus a clear contrast with ustedes in Spain and América. Learn that kit for most of Spain first, then adjust where ustedes covers informal groups in place of vosotros, as in América.