Is vos used or is tú used in Colombia?

paisa29 says on Jul 11, 2005, 09:09:

In Medellín we use: usted, vos y tu

"Fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality" Conrad Hilton

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utopiacowboy says on Jul 11, 2005, 11:02:

My wife does not use vos but the priest at our church who is from Medellin does use vos and vosotros.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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claudia82 says on Jul 11, 2005, 11:30:

Vos, tú, usted... Vos is used in Antioquia (mostly Medellin)and the entire Valle del Cauca. For those regions the most formal is usted for people you hardly know, for some bosses or if you are mad with someone. Then comes tú(rare) and the most friendly is vos. Tú is the most common and friendly in other regions...

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juanalejo says on Jul 11, 2005, 13:01:

Tu, vos and usted "Tu" is used in most of the country as an informal and friendly way of talking. "Vos" is used in Medellin, the Coffee Region and all the way down the Valle del Cauca. This is also an informal and friendly way of talking. "Vos" is used in a different way than in Spain as the "vosotros" is never used and the verbs are used in the regular form. i.e "vos estas" vs. "vos estais" in Spain. In the Guajira and across the border in Venezuela they also use the "vos" and with the irregular verb like in Spain. "Usted" is a formal way of talking, specially if you do not know a person, this is the same way in all of Colombia, but in Bogota it is also used as a friendly and informal way. This is something that to most people from outside Bogota comes as a shock as it gives the sensation of distance between friends. For us here in Bogota the "usted" depends more on the tone of voice to give a formal or informal sense.

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utopiacowboy says on Jul 11, 2005, 15:44:

Our priest from Medellin does in fact use vosotros. Maybe it's just him.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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bufalo says on Jul 11, 2005, 16:35:

actually, I´ve lived in the coffee region for some time now (Armenia) and my wife grew up here, neither of us have heard vos used here, just a good balance between tú and usted. When i wen to bucaramanga awhile back, everyone seemed to use usted.

Hey UTC odd that the priest uses vosotros, could it be a church/latin speech thing?

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

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Rubiazo says on Jul 11, 2005, 17:12:

Vosotros anybody in Latin America who uses vosotros is either actually from Spain or putting on airs.

My GF uses 'vos' all the time and she was born and raised in Bogota! Colombians are famous for using 'vos' informally, but other South Americans do it. When you use 'vos' you still conjugate the verbs as if you were saying 'tu' (outside of Argentina, but that's a whole nother ball of wax)

Traditionally, 'tu' is the most familiar 'usted' is equalizing and 'vos' is the most formal and distant.

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utopiacowboy says on Jul 11, 2005, 17:35:

Since I'm a gringo I use tu for everyone except my mother in law where I try to remember to use usted. Nice thing about being a gringo is that it entitles you to be a moron. No one expects any more than that when a gringo speaks Spanish. When I was writing a lot of Mexicanas, I noticed that most of them used tu when writing me even though they didn't really know me.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Rubiazo says on Jul 11, 2005, 17:38:

My Mexican tenants ALL call me 'usted' even though i've known them for two years now and am on great terms with them. I find it very confusing because I seriously think they are talking about someone else. I'm not used to being referred to in the third person at all. I guess I'm getting old...... :P

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xochistar says on Jul 11, 2005, 19:59:

Usted y su merced My dad is from Ibagué, but lived a good portion of his life in Bogotá. I grew up in Los Angeles, but still use Usted when addressing everyone (including my dog) except my parents. Per my father's example, I also catch myself addressing people as "su merced" often as a term of endearment or even out of the blue. While Usted is often used in Bogotá, the older generation (people of my dad's age and a bit younger) still use "su merced," roughly translated as "your mercy." I've read somewhere that "su merced" and "mande usted" (as it is used in Mexico -- my mom is Mexican so there was lots of fun confusion with the Spanish language in my household) is a remnant of the colonial period. A subservient individual might have addressed a superior using these terms. Of course, language changes with use and across time, so these terms have very different meanings today.

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Rubiazo says on Jul 11, 2005, 20:33:

Usted is short for 'vuestra merced' or 'su merced'

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colnacatl says on Jul 12, 2005, 18:48:

Usted and Vos i always use usted and vos, in my opinion Tu sounds gay...don't ask why!

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