Vos Commands

In many parts of Latin America, vos replaces tú as the informal singular pronoun. Vos has its own command forms, and they are remarkably easy to make: take the infinitive, drop the final -r, and add a written accent on the last vowel.

Forming affirmative vos commands

To form the affirmative vos command, start with the infinitive and replace the final -r with an accented vowel. The accent falls on the last syllable, which gives vos commands their distinctive sound.

Notice how verbs that are irregular in the tú command — like venir (ven) or tener (ten) — behave regularly with vos. This is one reason many learners find vos commands simpler than their tú counterparts.

The only true irregulars

Vos commands have just two genuinely irregular forms:

Note that for ir, speakers borrow the command form of andar instead of building one from ir. The form í exists in theory but is never used in practice.

Negative vos commands

Here comes a twist: negative vos commands are not formed the same way. In most regions, the negative form simply borrows the negative tú command (the tú form of the present subjunctive).

So while a speaker from Buenos Aires will happily say vení, they will almost always say no vengas rather than no veniás. The voseo subjunctive forms do exist, but they sound strong or regional and are rarely written.

For the rules behind the negative forms, see negative tú commands.

Where vos is used

Vos is not a fringe phenomenon — it is the everyday form of address for tens of millions of people. You will hear vos commands in:

• Argentina and Uruguay — universal, even in formal writing
• Paraguay — alongside tú in some contexts
• Much of Central America, especially Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala
• Pockets of Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Chile

For the standard tú command system used elsewhere, review regular tú commands.