- published: 20 Sep 2015
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Voseo is the use of the second person singular pronoun vos in many dialects of Spanish. In dialects that have it, it is used either instead of tú, or alongside it.
Vos is used extensively as the primary form of the second person singular in Rioplatense Spanish for Argentina and Uruguay, and in Paraguayan Spanish, for Paraguay.
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica also exhibit an extensive use of the vos pronoun through the Central American Spanish dialect. The pronoun is also widely used in Bolivia, though the media use tú more.
Vos had traditionally not been used in formal writing except in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. This gradually changed in Central America, where even the most prestigious media networks and press began to use the pronoun vos, reflecting the informal address in Spanish as opposed to the formal address of usted. This is particularly true in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and to a similar but lesser extent in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala; all of which speak in the Central American Spanish dialect. Nowadays it is very common to see billboards and other advertising media using voseo. In the dialect of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (known as Rioplatense Spanish), vos is also the standard form for use in television media.