{"id":144900,"date":"2023-04-21T02:43:57","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T06:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/vosotros-form\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T20:05:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T00:05:31","slug":"vosotros-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/vosotros-form\/","title":{"rendered":"Vosotros and How to Use it in Castilian Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the main differences between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish<\/a> is the use of vosotros <\/em>in Spain.\u00a0It isn’t necessarily complicated to use: It’s merely unfamiliar to many Spanish speakers who learned Spanish from the Americas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vosotros\u00a0<\/em>is used in Castilian Spanish when a person is speaking directly to a group of people, like\u00a0ustedes<\/em> is used in Latin American Spanish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

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What is Vosotros<\/em>?<\/h2>\n

Vosotros <\/em><\/strong>is the plural and informal way of saying “you” in Spain.\u00a0Think of it as the Castilian Spanish equivalent of saying “you guys” or “y’all.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you’ve learned Latin American Spanish you may be unfamiliar with this term: In Latin American Spanish, regardless of your relationship with the people you are talking to, when speaking to a group of more than one person you use ustedes.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In Spain however ustedes <\/em>is reserved exclusively for very formal situations and isn’t always appropriate to use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vosotros\u00a0<\/em>is the preferred way to address a group of more than one person. For example:<\/p>\n

\u00bfVais<\/strong> a venir a la fiesta esta noche?<\/em>
\n(Are you guys going to come to the party tonight?)<\/p>\n

\u00a1Sois<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i><\/b>muy amables!<\/i>
\n(You guys are so kind!)<\/p>\n

When to Use Vosotros<\/em>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Vosotros<\/em> is used in Castilian Spanish when a person is talking to a group of more than one person in most situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1is? <\/strong><\/em>
\n(How are you all?)<\/p>\n

\u00bfAd\u00f3nde vais? <\/strong><\/em>
\n(Where are you guys going?)<\/p>\n

In Spain,\u00a0ustedes<\/em> is seen as a very formal way to address a group, so you would only use\u00a0ustedes<\/em> in situations where such a level of formality is needed, for example when meeting with work superiors or someone of high importance.<\/p>\n

So unless the situation is very formal, always use vosotros <\/em>when speaking to more than one person in Spain.<\/p>\n

How to Use Vosotros<\/em><\/h3>\n

In Spanish, it isn\u2019t necessary to use vosotros<\/em> + the conjugation of vosotros<\/em> in a sentence. It is perfectly acceptable to just use the conjugation, however you can use vosotros <\/em>in a sentence\u00a0if you want to emphasize<\/strong> what you are saying:<\/p>\n

Vosotros sois<\/strong> mis mejores amigos.\u00a0<\/em>
\n(You are all my best friends.)<\/p>\n

If you are using it to emphasize, vosotros<\/em> must agree in gender. For example, if the group is all male or is made up of both males and females, use vosotros<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Vosotros<\/strong> trabaj\u00e1is aqu\u00ed en la oficina de lunes a jueves y ellos trabajan aqu\u00ed los viernes.\u00a0<\/em>(You all work here in the office from Monday to Thursday and they work here on Fridays.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

If it’s a group of only women, use vosotras<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Vosotras<\/strong> sois mis mejores amigas.\u00a0<\/em>
\n(You are all my best friends.)<\/p>\n

The Difference Between Vosotros<\/em> and Ustedes\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\n

As we mentioned earlier, Latin American Spanish uses ustedes<\/em> to mean “you all” in both formal and informal situations. There is no grammatical distinction\u2014the formality would come from the rest of language used in the interaction.<\/p>\n

In Spain, Spanish speakers have a clear distinction in formality by using vosotros<\/em> for most situations. Ustedes<\/em> is reserved for very formal occasions.<\/p>\n

For example, in Spanish, these sentences both mean “Could you all send me an email with the signed document?” however the second version would be considered very formal in Spain.<\/p>\n

Vosotros<\/strong><\/em> (informal):\u00a0\u00bfMe pod\u00e9is<\/strong> mandar un correo electr\u00f3nico con el documento firmado?<\/em><\/p>\n

Ustedes\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(formal):\u00a0\u00bfMe<\/em> pueden<\/em> <\/strong>mandar un correo electr\u00f3nico con el documento firmado?<\/em><\/p>\n

The best way to learn the differences in use between ustedes <\/em>and\u00a0vosotros<\/em> is by seeing it used by native Castilian Spanish speakers. There are plenty of Spanish YouTubers or Spanish TV series<\/a> you could watch to delve into the use of vosotros\u00a0<\/em>in context. You could even try watching your favorite movie on Netflix and set the audio and subtitles to “European Spanish.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another useful resource is FluentU<\/a>. This language learning program uses short Spanish videos to create an immersive learning experience.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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