Learn how to use the vos form in Spanish imperative sentences
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola a todos, habla Dylan. ¡Bienvenidos! |
| Carlos: What’s going on Pod101 world? My name is Carlos – Using “vos” in Spanish imperatives. Don’t ask me next time. In this lesson, you will learn about commands using “vos”. |
| Dylan: We have to continue these studies. |
| Carlos: I mean, really, it’s the only right thing to do. |
| Dylan: You know, Mateo finally found his way. |
| Carlos: Finally? |
| Dylan: Finally. |
| Carlos: Now, who is he meeting? |
| Dylan: He’s meeting Pablo. And while the conversation stays informal, Mateo isn’t that happy. |
| Carlos: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| MATEO: Mire, Pablo, fue una odisea. |
| PABLO: Pero, ¿qué dice?.. si es cerca. |
| MATEO: No sabe la perdida que me di.. ¡una mujer me mandó al limbo! |
| PABLO: Bueno, y ¿cómo fue que llegó? |
| MATEO: Yo seguí hasta el parque, luego dos cuadras al sur, en la esquina en la tienda de zapatos... directo... crucé la calle y llegué a la iglesia. |
| PABLO: ¡Hombre! Usted andaba del otro lado, para llegar aquí sólo camina de su puerta, ¡directo cuatro cuadras y ya! |
| MATEO: ¡¡¡Qué!!! ¡No le vuelvo a preguntar! |
| MATEO: Look Pablo, it was an odyssey. |
| PABLO: But, what are you saying? ...it's close. |
| MATEO: You don't know how lost I was...one woman sent me to limbo. |
| PABLO: All right, so how did you end up getting here? |
| MATEO: I continued to the park, then two blocks south, at the corner where the shoe store is... straight...I crossed the street and reached the church. |
| PABLO: Man! You were coming from the other side. To get here you just walk out your door, four blocks straight ahead, and that's it! |
| MATEO: Fine! I won't ask you again! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Exactly. And that lady who sent him to limbo? Man… |
| Carlos: Well, she was trying to be nice. |
| Dylan: Poor guy. |
| Carlos: But hatred, hatred. Whatever, it happens sometimes. |
| Dylan: It does. |
| Carlos: But you know what, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: Let’s. “Odisea”. |
| Carlos: “Odyssey”, “ordeal.” |
| Dylan: “O-di-se-a”, “Odisea”. “Mandar”. |
| Carlos: “To order”, “to send”, “to be in charge.” |
| Dylan: “Man-dar”, “mandar”. “Directo”. |
| Carlos: “Direct”, “straight.” |
| Dylan: “Di-rec-to”, “directo”. “Iglesia”. |
| Carlos: “Church.” |
| Dylan: “I-gle-sia”, “iglesia”. “Andar”. |
| Carlos: “To walk”, “to wander.” |
| Dylan: “An-dar”, “andar”. “Cerca”. |
| Carlos: “Near”, “nearby.” |
| Dylan: “Cer-ca”, “cerca”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Let’s have a closer look at some of the words and vocabulary from this lesson. The first word we’ll look at is… |
| Dylan: “Odisea”. |
| Carlos: “Odisea”. |
| Dylan: Do you know what that means? |
| Carlos: I think so. |
| Dylan: Well, it’s actually quite similar. |
| Carlos: The name for the Russian city of Odessa? |
| Dylan: No, “odyssey”. |
| Carlos: Ah, ok, I can see that. |
| Dylan: Well, yeah. Sometimes you only need to hear it once and bam, you got it. |
| Carlos: You know, The Odyssey was one of those books that I had hated in school. Well, reading it, I hated reading it, but I loved the actual story. |
| Dylan: Or the summary, you mean. |
| Carlos: Yeah, summary, cliff notes, that too. |
| Dylan: Well then provide us with a quick summary of The Odyssey. |
| Carlos: Ok, The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus, a king who fights in the Trojan war, kind of ticks off a God or a couple of God, and is forced to wonder for about 10 years. |
| Dylan: There is a bit more than that but you got the nugget that we need. |
| Carlos: The nugget? |
| Dylan: Yeah, the nugget. The story is the actual source of the word’s meaning. |
| Carlos: What, a journey? |
| Dylan: Yes, well, not just a journey. An odyssey is a journey that isn’t exactly easy, it’s more like an ordeal. |
| Carlos: Ah ok, so it makes sense now when Mateo tells Pablo, “mira Pablo, fue una odisea”. |
| Dylan: “Look Pablo, it was an odyssey.” After all these lessons, he just got there. Yeah, you better believe it was an ordeal for him. |
| Carlos: I believe it. You know, now that you gave me the definition, I think I can come up with an example sentence. |
| Dylan: Less work for me. Go ahead. |
| Carlos: “Viajar por toda Centroamérica en bus es toda una odisea”. “Traveling through Central American by bus is an odyssey.” |
| Dylan: But by that example, I can give you a related word. |
| Carlos: Why would that example? |
| Dylan: Well, it was an ordeal, but I bet you it was exciting. So it may have been an odyssey, but also an “aventura”, “an adventure”. |
| Carlos: You could call it that. You always think adventures are fun in the movies and such, but not in real life, not really. |
| Dylan: Well, of course they are. Next up we have a verb, “mandar”. |
| Carlos: This I know. “Mandar”, “to order”, “to send”, “to be in charge”. |
| Dylan: You couldn’t get “odisea” but you know “mandar”? |
| Carlos: What can I say? Some things you know, some things you don’t. it’s just because I learned all about text messages. |
| Dylan: Ah ok, now that makes sense. |
| Carlos: But I love it when Mateo is getting all excited and says “una mujer me mandó al limbo”. |
| Dylan: “One woman sent me to limbo.” God, I hate being lost, especially when you’re trying to find your way. People are trying to help you but they aren’t really giving you the correct directions. |
| Carlos: I figured you’d be used to it by now. I actually have a sample sentence that I use quite frequently. It helped me a lot with sentence construction. |
| Dylan: Yeah? What’s that? |
| Carlos: “Te mandaré un mensaje de texto”, “I will send you a text message.” |
| Dylan: Nice, use just the future tense. Getting advanced, Carlos. |
| Carlos: I wouldn’t say advanced. I’d say intermediate, probably lower intermediate, maybe a little high beginner. But, you know, I’ll consider myself advanced when I can use the subjunctive perfectly. |
| Dylan: Carlos, this is a Beginner Series lesson, no mentioning of the subjunctive. It may scare them. |
| Carlos: Sorry, sorry, Dylan. It won’t happen again. Let me change the subject to related words. |
| Dylan: We have the noun “mandato”, which means “order”, “command”, “mandate”. |
| Carlos: So that means should be said “mandato”. |
| Dylan: If you want but I don’t think that’s necessary. |
| Carlos: Sometimes you’re just no fun, Dylan. |
| Dylan: You know you don’t mean that… |
| Carlos: I know. |
| Dylan: Good, “directo al punto”. |
| Carlos: “Straight to the point.” Ah wait, “directo” is our next word, isn’t it? |
| Dylan: Right. “Directo” is an adjective that means “straight” or “direct”. |
| Carlos: A very important direction adjective. |
| Dylan: Which is why Mateo uses it when he’s trying to explain to Pablo how he finally arrived. |
| Carlos: “Yo seguí hasta el parque, luego a dos cuadras al sur, en la esquina en la tienda de zapatos, directo crucé la calle y llegué a la iglesia”. |
| Dylan: I continued to the park, then two blocks south, at the corner where the shoe store is, straight. I crossed the street and reached the church. |
| Carlos: That sounded simple enough, I mean I remember another address I had and it was so easy to remember. “Mi casa está directo a la plaza”. “My house is straight from the plaza”, and you know you can't miss the plaza. |
| Dylan: No, but you forgot one thing. |
| Carlos: And what’s that? |
| Dylan: You didn’t specify which “plaza”. |
| Carlos: Ok, good point. I guess it wasn’t so easy after all. |
| Dylan: Well, I guess not. But “directo” is also an adjective that can be used to describe a person, like “Carlos es un hombre muy directo”. |
| Carlos: I can be direct, but I mean it in the best way possible. How about a related word? |
| Dylan: There is one that is really easy. |
| Carlos: Why would you say that? |
| Dylan: Because it’s already in the adjective, “directo”. It’s just another adjective, “recto”. |
| Carlos: That’s not just [inaudible 00:06:29] slang? |
| Dylan: No. it’s a word in its own right. “Recto”, “straight”. |
| Carlos: So I could use either? |
| Dylan: Whichever, it doesn’t really matter. |
| Carlos: Nice to know. I like things that make life easier. |
| Dylan: Always good. Ok, next. A noun, “iglesia”. |
| Carlos: Hold on, let me cross myself. Good, this means “church”. |
| Dylan: Correct. I knew you were a good catholic boy. |
| Carlos: I wouldn’t say all that but yeah, I know what “iglesia” means. Plus, we already heard it in our last example from the conversation. “Yo seguí hasta el parque, luego a dos cuadras al sur, en la esquina en la tienda de zapatos, directo crucé la calle y llegué a la iglesia”. |
| Dylan: “I continued to the park, then two blocks south, at the corner where the shoe store is, straight. I crossed the street and reached the church.” |
| Carlos: Everything is always easy to find when you start from the church, especially salvation. |
| Dylan: You need the correct directions first but yeah, generally a church is the center of any town. Everthing sprawls out from that. |
| Carlos: Yeah, but you know right now in my town it’s kind of hectic. |
| Dylan: Yeah? Why is that? |
| Carlos: Because “la iglesia de mi barrio está en construcción”. |
| Dylan: How long has your church in your neighborhood been under construction. |
| Carlos: About two months, and with the rate of work in this place, I'm sure it will be like that for another four or five years. |
| Dylan: Ugh, I wouldn’t be surprised. |
| Carlos: Now, any church related to this word. Easier to translate than “iglesia”. |
| Dylan: And what’s that? |
| Carlos: “Religión”, “religion”. |
| Dylan: Yeah, Carlos, they kind of go hand in hand. |
| Carlos: And that’s why it is a related word. Ok, next. |
| Dylan: “Andar”. |
| Carlos: A very cool verb. |
| Dylan: Why cool? |
| Carlos: “To walk” or, more fittingly, “to wander”. |
| Dylan: I can see how that would appeal to you. |
| Carlos: You’re kidding me? I love wandering. |
| Dylan: Where did you learn that word? |
| Carlos: When I was transcribing lyrics to a song in Spanish that I like, one of them was this song I started with, “me gusta andar”, and I asked somebody if it meant “I like to walk”, cause that’s what the dictionary said. And they said it kind of means more like “wandering”, and so once they said that this song kind of made a lot more sense to me. I mean after all wandering is just another level of walking. |
| Dylan: Yeah, can you sing a little bit of that song for me, Carlos? |
| Carlos: Not right now. |
| Dylan: Pablo is using “andar” in the sense of “caminar” when he says “vos andabas del otro lado, para llegar aquí solo caminás de tu puerta directo cuatro cuadras y ya”. |
| Carlos: “To get here you just walk out your door, four blocks straight ahead and that’s it.” |
| Dylan: So “andar” doesn’t have to be so free-spirited all the time. |
| Carlos: We have already mentioned the verb “caminar” as a related word, but I know a noun that holds to my definition of “andar” as a free-spirited verb. |
| Dylan: Oh yeah? And what’s that? |
| Carlos: “Andanzas”, a feminine plural noun that means “adventures”. And what’s a more spirited than that. |
| Dylan: I never disagree with you. Just think, it is important to point out that “andar” can be used in a quite mundane way, but that is a very good related word, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Thank you, Dylan. |
| Dylan: Well, last but not least we have an adverb. |
| Carlos: Now I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I love two for the price of one. |
| Dylan: “Cerca”. |
| Carlos: “Cerca”, “close”. |
| Dylan: “Si es cerca”, “it is close”, which is what Pablo says Mateo. |
| Carlos: But I'm sure that Mateo isn’t in a mood to hear that. |
| Dylan: No, not at all. |
| Carlos: Well, can you think of related sentences? I'm all out? |
| Dylan: Here’s one you want to memorize “vente más cerca, “come closer”. |
| Carlos: Hah, you know what, that is a good tip, Dylan. Hear that, gentlemen? You’re out and about, and you meet a girl who only speaks Spanish, surprise her by not only smiling and nodding, but just coming out of nowhere and saying… |
| Dylan: “Vente más cerca”. |
| Carlos: “Come closer”, guaranteed to surprise her. |
| Dylan: Guaranteed. |
| Carlos: Especially if that’s the first Spanish you use. |
| Dylan: There is a verb that is related to “cerca”. |
| Carlos: Really? I didn’t know that. |
| Dylan: Yes, “cercar”, which is “to fence in”, “to enclose” or “surround”. Forgot to mention, “cerca” is also a noun that means “fence”. |
| Carlos: Ah ok, now that makes sense. |
| Dylan: Carlos, remember in the last couple of lessons we discussed “vos”? |
| Carlos: How could I forget? |
| Dylan: Well, today we’re going to continue talking about the phenomenon of “vos”, but this time commands. |
| Carlos: The imperative you say, huh? Always good to know. Commands can be confusing at times. |
| Dylan: Let’s do a quick retake. |
| Carlos: Sure. |
| Dylan: What is the relationship between the second person singular “tú” with “vos”? |
| Carlos: Well, “vos” can be used in the place of the second person singular. |
| Dylan: Careful because that’s in Costa Rica. |
| Carlos: It’s not like that in other countries where “vos” is used? |
| Dylan: No. The second usage is the standard in places like Argentina and Uruguay. |
| Carlos: So is Costa Rica the only country where “vos” is used interchangeably with “tú”? |
| Dylan: No, you can also use “vos” interchangeably in Bolivia and Chile, so don’t worry. Plus, if you used “tú” instead of “vos” in Argentina or Uruguay, they will still understand you. |
| Carlos: Ah, ok. |
| Dylan: Now, aside from the different pronoun, verbs used with “vos” have different endings in the present tense of the indicative mood as well as in the imperative mode. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: And we’re covering the imperative today if I'm not mistaken. |
| Dylan: Exactly. Today we’re going to outline the general rules for using the imperative mode, for example commands with the second person singular who’s pronoun is “vos”. |
| Carlos: Great. This I have to pay attention to. |
| Dylan: What? You don’t usually pay attention? |
| Carlos: Well some things more than others. You know I kind of go… |
| Dylan: Well, listen. Forming affirmative commands using “vos” is easy. All you have to do is use the following personal endings. |
| Carlos: Personal endings? |
| Dylan: For AR verbs, A. For ER verbs, E. And for IR verbs, I. |
| Carlos: Is there a difference for negative commands? |
| Dylan: To form negative commands addressing “vos”, all of the forms are identical to the forms we use for “tú”. For AR verbs, S. For ER verbs, AS. And for IR verbs, AS. |
| Carlos: Ok, ok, I'm still with you. It seems easy enough so far. |
| Dylan: Let’s check out an AR verb. You pick one. |
| Carlos: Ok. One that is fitting to right now. “Escuchar”, “to listen”. |
| Dylan: Ok, to form affirmative commands using “vos” for AR verbs, follow this formula. Infinitive stem plus A. |
| Carlos: That’s it? |
| Dylan: That’s it. |
| Carlos: So then we would have “escuch-”? That’s funny. “Escuch-” No, no, no. So we have “escuch-” plus A. and in an affirmative command I could say “¡escucha, vos!”, “Listen, you!” |
| Dylan: Good one. |
| Carlos: It’s not mine. Someone was screaming at me and when they said it, I just happened to be listening. So in a sense I was already doing what they asked. |
| Dylan: Well, whatever you say. Now pick an ER verb. |
| Carlos: “Comer”, “to eat”. |
| Dylan: Good. So remember we have the personal endings E, so infinitive stem “com-” plus E. |
| Carlos: “¡Comé, vos! “Eat, you!” |
| Dylan: No one ever had said that to you, did they? |
| Carlos: No, can’t say I’ve ever heard it. |
| Dylan: Ok, well, last but not least, IR verbs. |
| Carlos: “Partir”, “to leave”. |
| Dylan: You remember the formula now? Go for it. |
| Carlos: Ok, you could have said that using “vos” but here I go. Infinitive stem plus I, so “part-” plus “I”, “¡partí, vos!”, “Leave, you!” |
| Dylan: So are positive commands clear? |
| Carlos: Positive. |
| Dylan: There are two sides to every coin, Carlos, so here comes negative commands. |
| Carlos: Man, I hate negative things. So is there a formula for this? |
| Dylan: Well let’s use the same verbs you picked. “Escuchar”, “comer” and “partir”, just to make things easier. |
| Carlos: So what’s the formula? |
| Dylan: For negative commands, remember the endings are different. For AR verbs, “no” plus infinitive stem plus E-S, ES. |
| Carlos: So for “escuchar” we have “no” plus “escuch-” plus ES, so “¡no escuches, vos!”. “Don’t you listen!” |
| Dylan: For ER verbs, “no” plus infinitive stem plus AS. |
| Carlos: So “no” plus “com-” plus A-S or AS so “comer” becomes “¡no comas, vos!”, “Don’t you eat!” I’ve been told that plenty of times. |
| Dylan: Yeah, I bet. Then finally for IR verbs, “no” plus infinitive stem plus AS. |
| Carlos: So for “partir” we’d have “no” plus “part-” plus AS, A-S, “¡no partás, vos!”, “Don’t you leave!” Please, don’t leave! |
| Dylan: Write down the formulas and take them out every now and again. Once you get them down it will be easy to give your commands using “vos”, considering the fact that you are in Costa Rica, Carlos. |
| Carlos: That’s true. Now how about some examples with commands using “vos”? |
| Dylan: “¡Mírame cuando te hablo!” |
| Carlos: Oh my god, you sound like my mom. “Look at me when I'm talking to you!” |
| Dylan: Yes, affirmative. “¡No me mires! Mi pelo está hecho un desastre”. |
| Carlos: Ah, “Don’t look at me! My hair Is a disaster.” And that’s the part where I say, “No, no, not at all. You’ve never looked better! Oh my God, ¡qué bella!.” |
| Dylan: Oh my God, and she falls for this? She’s already told you her hair looks like crap. |
| Carlos: You all fall for it. No, no, no, I insist, I'm going to go. No, no, it’s ok. |
| Dylan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. “¡Comed todo lo que vos querás!” |
| Carlos: Affirmative. “Eat all that you want!” well, that’s always something I want to hear. |
| Dylan: “¡No comas tanto o te va a salir una panza!” |
| Carlos: Negative. “Don’t eat so much or else you’ll get a pouch!” |
| Dylan: “¡Escribime una carta cuando vos llegués!” |
| Carlos: Affirmative. “Write me a letter when you arrive!” |
| Dylan: “¡No me escribas si vos no me vas a decir cosas bonitas!” |
| Carlos: Negative. “Don’t write to me if you’re not going to tell me nice things!” |
| Dylan: Remember that using “voseo” is a regional tendency and that every form of Spanish is made up of regional tendencies. “Voseo”, however, is very distinct and since “vos” is a pronoun all on its own, and since it receives different personal endings in the present tense of the indicative mode and in the imperative mode as we’ve seen today, it could be confusing to the untrained ear. Right, Carlos? |
| Carlos: Huh? Ah right. |
| Dylan: However, it’s also important to realize that if you’re in a place like Argentina where the “voseo” is the standard or in Costa Rica, where it is used interchangeably with “tú”. |
| Carlos: If you use the “tú” form, it’s not like the person you’re speaking to will not understand you. On the contrary, speakers who prefer “vos” over “tú” understand and can use both forms. |
| Dylan: With that being said, it’s definitely a good idea to learn to recognize the “voseo”. And if you’re interested in really giving your Spanish some flavor, it’s a good idea to learn how to use it as well. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Ok, guys, that just about does it for today. |
| Carlos: ¡Nos vemos! |
| Dylan: ¡Chao! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide