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How to use the pronoun ‘vos’ in Spanish?

By: Mango Languages Thu Sep 18 2025

If you’ve ever traveled to Argentina or Central America, you will have heard the vos. This pronoun is the equivalent of ("you"), and it’s used in many parts of Latin America. In this post, we’ll show you how to use pronoun vos and how to conjugate verbs in this form. Want to impress your Spanish speaking friends with your mastery of vos? Let’s get to it!

What is ‘vos’ and where is it used?

Vos is a Spanish subject pronoun used for the second-person singular in a familiar context — the same way you would use the pronoun “.” There is no difference in meaning, the difference lies in the regions it is used. In some regions it fully replaces the pronoun “” and in others it is used alongside “.”

  • In Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, vos is used instead of .

  • In Central America, vos is used alongside . The predominant pronoun is vos.

  • In only certain regions of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Cuba, and Southern Mexico, vos is used alongside . The predominant pronoun is .

  • In Chile it is used alongside , but slightly different (keep reading to find out how).

In the Spanish-speaking countries, the art of using “vos” is called “voseo” and as an interesting fact, about 40 percent of Spanish speakers use it. That’s a lot of people! So, it is definitely worth giving it a shot, but don’t worry if you don’t master it fully — all Spanish speakers will understand you if you end up using “.”

How to conjugate verbs using the ‘vos’ form?

Pronouns and vos share most of the verbal ; however, they differ in the present tense (indicative and subjunctive) and in the imperative. We’ll go over this next!

Present indicative tense

To form the present indicative in the vos form, remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add the following endings:

  • -ar verbs: -ás

vos cantás

you sing

  • -er verbs: -és

vos comés

you eat

  • -ir verbs: -ís

vos vivís

you live

There are no stem-changes in this form (YAY!) compared to some verbs that have a stem-change in the form. Observe:

Stem-change

No stem-change

jugar ("to play"):

tú juegas
vos jugás

you play

tener ("to have"):

tú tienes
vos tenés

you have

dormir ("to sleep"):

tú duermes
vos dormís

you sleep

And, there are three irregular verbs in the vos form: ser ("to be"), ir ("to go"), and haber ("to have"), but the last two are identical to the form ( or vos vas; or vos has). The only notable exception is the verb ser:

ser ("to be"):

tú eres
vos sos

you are

Note that verbs dar ("to give") and ver ("to see") are regular in the vos form, except they do not require a written accent: vos das ("you give") and vos ves ("you see").

Curious to know more about Spanish accents? Then head over to our post!

Present subjunctive tense

The verb forms of the present subjunctive in Spanish are very easy for pronoun vos. Use the same forms as for pronoun , but change the stress to the last syllable. This means that in writing you will add an accent to the last vowel, and in speech you will say the last syllable with more emphasis.

cantar ("to sing"):

tú cantes vos cantés

comer ("to eat"):

tú comas vos comás

vivir ("to live"):

tú vivas vos vivás

This includes all irregular verbs! For instance, the verb salir ("to leave"):

Quiero que (tú) salgas temprano.
  • Quiero que vos salgás temprano.
I want you to leave early.
Tip

In Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay the forms of the subjunctive are used instead of the vos forms, but continue to use pronoun vos. The above example would be said like this:

Quiero que vos salgas temprano.

How to use commands with pronoun ‘vos’?

Vos commands in Spanish have one form in the affirmative and another form in the negative.

Affirmative commands

Vos commands are formed following a simple rule: drop the -r from the end of the infinitive form of the verb and put a written accent on the last vowel. This applies to all verbs, except ir ("go"), so there is no difference between regular and irregular in this case.

Infinitive Form

Verb ending

-ar
-er
-ir

cantar

to sing

comer

to eat

escribir

to write

How to form affirmative commands. Rule: Drop the -r and add accent to the last vowel

Verb ending

-ar
-er
-ir

cantá

sing

comé

eat

escribí

write

If you compare these forms with the regular forms of equivalent , you’ll notice that they are the same, except for the change in stress (aka the accent):

(tú) habstressedlahablá vstressedos ("speak")

The other great feature of vos is that, since you’re using the infinitive as the base, there are no stem changes in the affirmative!

volver ("to come back")

(tú) vuelve (vos) volvé ("come back")

Important

Reflexive verbs take the pronoun te, and it’s attached to the vos affirmative command:

dormir ("to sleep")dormite ("go to sleep")

lavar ("to wash")lavate ("wash yourself")

When adding the pronoun, the written accent is not needed. However, the stress of the word remains in the same syllable as the command without the pronoun:

pará stressed ("stop") paratestressed ("get up")

In affirmative commands, the verb ir ("to go") is replaced by andar ("to walk, to go"), which follows the rule above, so in Argentina you would say:

¡Andá a la escuela!
Go to school!
Negative commands

The negative takes the same form as the commands and , but an accent is added on the last syllable. This accent changes the pronunciation; now, the stressed or prominent vowel becomes the last one instead of the second to last.

Verb form
Regular
Irregular
Irregular

negative command

no bailes

don't dance

no digas

don't say

no tengas

don't have

vos negative command

no bailés

don't dance

no digás

don't say

no tengás

don't have

However, there are a few verbs that don’t follow this rule: -ir verbs that have a stem-change in the present tense like sentir ("to feel"), repetir ("to repeat"), vestirse ("to get dressed"), servir ("to serve"), dormir ("to sleep"), and morir ("to die").

Stem-changing verbs ending in -ir follow these patterns:

  • -o is replaced with -u

    dormir

    to sleep

    no durmás

    don't sleep

  • -e is replaced with -i

    preferir

    to sleep

    prefirás

    don't sleep

Check out our tables for more irregular verbs in the vos form!

Important

The forms shown above are considered the most widespread forms of “voseo,” but Spanish cannot be Spanish without variety, meaning that there are other forms of voseo. For instance, in parts of Venezuela, they use the same verbal forms as the “vosotros” (you-plural) forms, but paired with pronoun “vos”:

Vos estáis loco si pensáis que vais a salir vestido así con este frío.

You are crazy if you think that you can go out dressed like that in the cold.

Furthermore in Chile, they use slightly different endings. In the present indicative tense, the endings are:

  • -ar verbs: -ái

cantái
  • -er and -ir verbs: -í(s)

comí(s)
  • viví(s)

The Chilean vos forms also differ from the standard vos form in other tenses (for a full chart of forms comparing verb conjugations in the tú, vos, and Chilean vos forms, click the link). However, they do not use the vos forms in commands, but the forms instead.

What pronouns should I use with ‘voseo’?

Most of the time, you will use the same pronouns you would use with “ .”

Same pronouns as ‘tú’

Reflexive →

Vos te levantás temprano.

You wake (yourself) up early.

Direct object pronoun →

Te vi (a vos) en la tienda.

I saw you in the store.

Indirect object pronoun →

Te dimos las llaves a vos.

We gave you the keys.

Double object pronoun →

Te lo dijo a vos

He said it to you.

  • When using possessive pronouns, use “tuyo” (tuya, tuyos, tuyas) and use “tu” (tus) for the possessive adjective.

    ¿Este libro es tuyo?

    Is this book yours?

    Vení acá con tus hermanos.

    Come here with your siblings.

Different pronoun than ‘tú’

Use “vos” after a preposition (aka prepositional object pronoun) or as a subject pronoun.

Estos boletos son para vos.

These tickets are for you.

vs

Estos boletos son para ti.

No queremos ir con vos.

We don’t want to go with you.

vs

No queremos ir contigo.

Vos sos especial.

You are special.

vs

eres especial.
Important

Voseois a very interesting style of speaking and it’s by no means cut and dry. There are speakers that mix “voseo” and “tuteo” (the use of ); that means that some speakers might use the pronoun “vos” with a verb in the form, or vice versa, the pronoun with a verb in the “vos” form. For example:

¿Vos quieres venir conmigo?

Do you want to come with me?

form
¿Tú querés venir conmigo?
vos form

In Chile, for example, it’s considered rude to use the pronoun vos with the verb in vos form (aka standard voseo), so the familiar way to address someone is by using the pronoun “” with a verb in the vos form – in the Chilean form: tú querei ("you want"). Interesting, isn’t it?

To sum up

So there you have it, you now have all the ins and outs on how to use “vos.” Just remember that with vos there are fewer irregularities than its counterpart and that the stress usually goes in the last syllable. And when it comes to pronouns, use the same ones as you would use with pronoun , except after a preposition or the subject pronoun. Easy, right? Now, ¡andá a las actividades! ("head on to the activities!")

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