¡Hola a todos!

[Sunflower]

¡Hola! Vivo en los EE UU, en Michigan, y estudio español hace 4 años. Tomé 2 años en la escuela secondaria y voy a cumplir el 4o año este abril en la universidad comunitaria donde soy estudiante del arte. Y entonces no hay más español para mí hasta que traslade a la universidad. ¡Espero con muchas ganas de practicar con vosotros!


Hello! I live in the US, in Michigan, and I've been studying Spanish for 4 years. I took 2 years in High School and I'm going to finish the 4th year this April in the community college where I am an art student. And then there is no more Spanish for me until I transfer to University. I'm looking forward to practicing with you......all...

...and that makes me think of something, actually, and I have to wonder if I'm not the only one that does this. Learning Spanish has made the English singular "you" feel entirely wrong if I'm speaking to a group. I know it's incorrect, but it just sounds incomplete not to add an "all" behind it, or "y'all" if I'm in a Southern mood. And I'll bet that's why "y'all" exists in the first place - we're trying to compensate for the lack of a plural "you." Or maybe it's just me...

[Rusty]

¡Bienvenida a los foros!

This site tells you just about everything you need to know about "y'all." I've seen the FLORENCE Y'ALL water tower many times.

You are most likely aware that 'vosotros' is used in Spain as the plural second-person pronoun. Elsewhere, the plural pronoun is 'ustedes'.

This site says that English used to have 'tú' and 'vosotros' equivalents - 'thou' and 'ye', respectively. English also used 'ye' as the singular formal pronoun (equivalent to modern Spanish's 'usted'). When the familiar pronoun 'thou', and its plural form 'ye', disappeared from colloquial usage, 'you' became their replacements. Using 'ye' as the formal pronoun eventually gave way to 'you', as well.

[LibraryLady]

Welcome!

[Sunflower]

¡Gracias por los bienvenidos!

Originally Posted by Rusty

You are most likely aware that 'vosotros' is used in Spain as the plural second-person pronoun. Elsewhere, the plural pronoun is 'ustedes'.

Oh yes, I know, but vosotros isn't generally taught in US schools, and I'd like to get comfortable recognizing and using it so that understanding Spanish media and literature is easier for me. I don't even know how to conjugate the vosotros form. When I get some time, I'll study it properly but for now I have to check with a conjugator every time I want to use it. And that's just silly, in my opinion. But apparently US schools think our students want nothing to do with Spain, so we don't bother to teach it.

Given that native Spanish speakers should understand it, and since this is a world-wide forum there is no common regional dialect to follow, would it be considered weird to use vosotros? Pretentious? What if I pretended I was from the UK?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Sunflower

¡Gracias por las bienvenidas!

Given that native Spanish speakers should understand it, and since this is a world-wide forum there is no common regional dialect to follow, would it be considered weird to use vosotros? Pretentious? What if I pretended I was from the UK?

You can use 'vosotros' here, but with the understanding that it is only used in Spain. If you're planning on visiting Latin American countries, you won't use it in colloquial speech.

Pretending you're from the UK won't do you any good, not after your introduction, anyway.

[CrOtALiTo]

Hello I bid you welcome to these forums,

I hope your stay in the forums, it will be enjoyable.

Greetings.

[Sunflower]

Originally Posted by Rusty

You can use 'vosotros' here, but with the understanding that it is only used in Spain. If you're planning on visiting Latin American countries, you won't use it in colloquial speech.

Pretending you're from the UK won't do you any good, not after your introduction, anyway.

What do you mean? I was just kidding earlier. I'm totally from London...guvnah...'ows yer father...apples an' pears...an' stuff...

Ok, maybe not.