Usted o vos?

[citygirl]

I will admit to using vos pretty exclusively. I use vos with my mucama, with the waiters, with my caffeine dealers at Starbucks . And my employees use vos with me as well and it doesn't bother me in the slightest nor do I take it as a lack of respect.

I'm a foreigner and I think it's probably a cultural thing.

That being said - when I meet parents of friends, I do try to use usted initially as a gesture of respect (although usually after 10 or 15 minutes of chatting, I often forget and slip back to vos).

 

[HowardinBA]

Could someone please help me understand is there exists a genitive form (I think its called) of vos..ie you are having a conversation with vos this and vos that and suddenly you need to say "with you"..is it just plain "con vos"? is there a way to use a vos equivalent of contigo etc?

yes, I would use "con Vos"

 

[Gringoboy]

I think they consider it a bit quaint to say contigo...eres...tu etc over here.
I remember when I arrived here in 2005, having been living in Spain previously, I was theta this and theta that; but how quickly we adapt.

 

[Nadina]

Could someone please help me understand is there exists a genitive form (I think its called) of vos..ie you are having a conversation with vos this and vos that and suddenly you need to say "with you"..is it just plain "con vos"? is there a way to use a vos equivalent of contigo etc?

I think they would say "contigo" in Mexico or Spain, it doesn't exist in Argentina, though, because the "ti" part in "con-ti-go" is used in countries where "tú" is the 2nd person singular and not "vos". So in Argentina you would say "con vos", not "contigo". Just say "con vos", it's OK. If it's plural (if you're talking to more than one person), say "con ustedes". I hope this helps.

 

[sesamosinsal]

In Argentina, I've always heard "con vos." But if you cross that boat over to Montevideo, you can hear "contigo," and "a ti" instead of "a vos" when you say "gracias."

Tu is not evenly used all over Latin America. In Ecuador, they generally use "tu," but it's not uncommon for them to use "vos" with the "tu" conjugation. In Chile, they have their own version of "vos" in Santiago.. Cachai? And in Colombia, I think some people use "tu/usted," "vos/usted," and some just "usted". *whew*

 

[xtrasback]

hay que erradicar el uso de usted, el respeto y los modales se demuestran con hechos y/o acciones no con palabras.

 

[PhilipDT]

I generally use vos because it's the most natural way that spinish flows for me; which I'm sure is because it's what I'm used to hearing. If I want to use usted I actually have to make a real effort to make sure none of my verbs come out in voseo.

 

[Santiago F]

This is an interesting topic. I'm a local, I'm 34 and there are some situations where I don't like being treated as "usted" (in fact, most of the situations). When someone younger than me who is, say, between 18 to 24 calls me usted I really don't like it, or perhaps, it's because I don't expect it. And this is regardless whether it's a waiter/waitress (most of the time this is the case), or someone who's doing a job for me, or client, etc. Maybe it's just that I'm getting old?
I wouldn't like people my age or older treating me as usted either, but that hasn't happened so often. In fact, most of the time I'm treated as vos. BTW, I have taught classes to teenagers, and they consistently treated me as vos even though I was their teacher.

Cheers,

 

[Hache]

Usted never hurts. People will let you know if you should address them in a less formal manner.

 

[Hache]

Am I the only one not liking to be addressed as usted because it exposes my inevitable aging?