vós / vostedes

Plural You: Vós and Vostedes

Level 1

For more than one person, Galician uses vós (informal) and vostedes (formal). Vós falades galego and Vostedes falan galego both mean "You all speak Galician."

How It Works

Vós is the normal plural "you". Unlike many varieties of Spanish, Galician keeps an everyday second-person plural. Use vós with any group of friends, family or classmates, and with any group you would address as ti one by one.

Present-tense forms with vós always end in -des:

  • -ar verbs: falades, traballades
  • -er verbs: comedes, bebedes
  • -ir verbs: vivides, abrides
  • Irregular verbs: sodes (ser), estades, ides, and tedes or tendes (ter)

Vostedes is the formal plural. Use it with a group you would address as vostede one by one, for example customers, an audience or officials. Like vostede, it takes third-person forms: Vostedes son de aquí? (Are you from here?), Vostedes queren algo máis? (Would you like anything else?).

Accent matters. The subject pronoun vós has a written accent. Without it, vos is the unstressed object pronoun ("you" as an object): Vós sabedes que vos quero (You all know that I love you all). See diacritic accents.

Vosoutros. The standard also has vosoutros, vosoutras, used in some areas to single out one group in contrast to others. Vós is the general form and works in every context. See nós and nosoutros.

Examples (6)

  1. Vós falades galego.

    You all speak Galician. (informal)

    Word by Word: You-all speak Galician.

  2. Vostedes falan galego.

    You speak Galician. (formal plural)

    Word by Word: You-all speak Galician.

    Falan is the same form as eles falan (they speak).

  3. Onde vivides?

    Where do you all live? (informal)

    Word by Word: Where you-all-live?

  4. Vostedes queren algo máis?

    Would you like anything else? (formal plural)

    Word by Word: You-all want something more?

  5. Sodes irmás?

    Are you sisters? (informal plural)

    Word by Word: You-all-are sisters?

    The pronoun vós is dropped because sodes already shows who is meant.

  6. Vós tedes razón.

    You are right, all of you.

    Word by Word: You-all have reason.

Common Mistakes

  • Using vós endings with vostedes.

    Vostedes falades galego?
    Vostedes falan galego?

    Vostedes always takes the third-person plural form, the same one used with eles and elas.

  • Writing the subject pronoun vós without its accent.

    Vos sodes de Vigo?
    Vós sodes de Vigo?

    Vós with an accent is the subject pronoun. Vos without an accent is the object pronoun, as in vos quero (I love you all).

How It Connects

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vós / vostedesLevel 1Plural You: Vós and Vostedes

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Vós and vostedes address more than one person but use different verb persons.

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Words in This Pattern

vósvostedes