The Argentina Vos conjugation is used for the second personal, singular verb conjugations. This is the "you" form, or tu in most other Spanish countries, as in You need to buy a book or Tienes que comprar un libro. The Argentine Vos equivalent is Tenés que comprar un libro.
Understanding Vos is important if you spend time in Argentina or have regular contact with Argentines. While the tu form is completely understood in Argentina, absolutely nobody uses it.
How to Conjugate Verbs Using the Argentina Vos Form
Conjugating the Argentina Vos form for verbs is extremely simple. In fact it is easier than conjugating the regular Spanish tu verb forms because there are no stem-changing verbs. The simple explanation to conjugate Vos in Argentina is drop the verb ending and add ás, és or ís.
AR Verb Conjugation
AR verbs drop the -r, add an s and an accent over the a so hablar becomes hablás.
Example: Guille, afanás todo. Comprálo.
Translation: Guille, you steal everything. Buy it.
Notice in the example comprá does not include the S. This is because the verb conjugation for comprar in this situation is a command, and not the second-person singular. Also, Guille is short for the male name Guillermo.
ER Verb Conjugation
ER verbs drop the -r, add an s and an accent over the e so querer becomes querés.
Example: Vos sabés que querés viajar.
Translation: You know you want to travel.
IR Verb Conjugation
IR verbs drop the -r, add an s and an accent over the i so venir becomes venís.
Example: ¿Venís a la cancha a ver el clásico?
Translation: Are you coming to the stadium to watch the Classic tournament?
The Only Exception: SER
In the use of voseo only one verb is an exception that does not follow the above examples. That verb is SER. Spanish normally uses the word eres as in Tu eres mi amigo favorito translated as You are my favorite friend. With the Argentina Vos conjugation though, the sentence becomes Sos mi amigo favorito.
Other Countries that Use Vos
While not as common as in Argentina, you may here voseo (the use of vos conjugated verbs) in Paraguay, Uruguay and several countries in Central America including Honduras and Nicaragua.
Check out these other Argentina Spanish Slang Expressions articles.
