SPANISH MINDSET

If you learned Spanish in Spain, Mexico or Duolingo, you probably know this:

• tú = you (informal, singular)

So you arrive in Buenos Aires full of confidence and say:

Tú trabajas en una oficina, ¿no?

…and every Argentinian looks at you like: “Ah, you’re not from here, are you?” 😄

Welcome to Argentine Spanish, where people almost never say tú and use vos instead.

In this post I’ll explain:

• The real difference between tú and vos
• Which one we actually use in Argentina
• When tú still appears (north of the country)
• Why this matters if you’re an expat in Argentina, a digital nomad in Argentina, retired in Argentina, doing business in Argentina or being fluent in Argentine Spanish.

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to say “you” like a local on your next trip Argentina.

Tú vs Vos: The Basic Idea

In most of Latin America and Spain, if you want to say:

• you work
• you live
• you study

you use tú:

• tú trabajas – you work
• tú vives – you live
• tú estudias – you study

But in Argentina, especially if you’re Living in Buenos Aires or in most big cities, we:

Never (or almost never) say tú.

Instead, we say vos.

• vos is the casual “you” in Argentine Spanish
• It replaces tú in everyday conversations

So:

• tú trabajas → vos trabajás
• tú vives → vos vivís
• tú comes → vos comés

If you want to Learn Spanish in Argentina, vos is not optional. It’s absolutely central.

Is Vos Informal or Formal?

This part can be confusing if you only know textbook Spanish.

In standard Spanish, you have:

• tú – informal “you” (friends, family, people your age)
• usted – formal “you” (respectful, clients, older people, etc.)

In Argentina we still have usted for formal situations, but our everyday “you” is vos.

You can think of it like this:

• vos = casual “you” in Argentine Spanish
• usted = formal “you” (used in all Spanish-speaking countries)

So when the original script says:

“Vos is the casual version of ‘you’ in Spanish and the formal version of ‘you’ in Argentina”

What it really means is:

• If you are in Argentina, and you use tú, you will sound strange, distant, or foreign.
• If you’re speaking normally and friendly here, you use vos. That’s our default casual “you”.

Example for a digital nomad in Argentina talking to a coworker:

• ❌ Tú trabajas remoto, ¿verdad?
• ✅ Vos trabajás remoto, ¿no?

Example for someone living in Argentina talking to a neighbor:

• ❌ ¿Tú vives en este edificio?
• ✅ ¿Vos vivís en este edificio?

Where Do We Use Vos in Argentina?

Short answer: almost everywhere.

• In Buenos Aires, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Rosario, Córdoba, Mendoza, Patagonia, etc.
• In daily life with:
  • Friends
  • Family
  • Partners
  • Colleagues (in many modern workplaces)

However, Argentina is a big country and has internal variation.

Northern Argentina: Tú + Vos Mix

In some northern provinces—like:

• Salta
• Jujuy
• Catamarca

—you might hear tú more often, or a mix of tú and vos.

Why? Because that area is more connected to the rest of Latam Spanish, and less to the Río de la Plata region (Buenos Aires + Uruguay), where vos dominates.

How Vos Changes the Verbs (Very Quickly)

Here’s a super quick comparison so you see the pattern.

Regular -AR verbs (hablar – to speak)

• tú hablas
• vos hablás

Regular -ER verbs (comer – to eat)

• tú comes
• vos comés

Regular -IR verbs (vivir – to live)

• tú vives
• vos vivís

You can see the idea:

With vos, stress usually goes to the last syllable, and you often hear -ás, -és, -ís.

This gives Argentine Spanish that “singing” rhythm that many people love.

For a full deep dive, check my complete post “How to Sound Argentinian: Pronunciation & Vos Guide”, but even this mini version is enough to start using vos correctly in your next trip to Argentina.

Should You Ever Use Tú in Argentina?

The honest answer:

Probably not.

If you are:

• An expat in Argentina
• A digital nomad in Argentina
• A retired foreigner living by the coast or in the mountains
• A Traveler coming for a few months

…your safest and most natural choice is vos + usted.

The only cases where tú might appear:

• In the north (Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca, etc.), with some locals
• In imported songs, series, books from other countries
• If you’re talking to someone who is trying to adapt to your Spanish and they are not from Argentina

But in general:

• Nobody in Buenos Aires uses tú in daily life
• If you use it, you sound like a book, a telenovela from Mexico, or a tourist

So:

• For friends, coworkers, people you meet in bars, people at a language exchange → vos
• For older people, clients, formal meetings, serious situations → usted

Example for business in Argentina:

• Formal email:

Usted tiene la reunión mañana a las 10. – You have the meeting tomorrow at 10.

• After you build rapport (informal chat):

Che, ¿vos venís al after office? – Hey, you coming to the after-office?

Why Vos Matters for Your Life in Argentina

It’s easy to think:

“Ok, tú vs vos… who cares, they will understand me anyway.”

Yes, Argentinians will understand you if you use tú. But there are deeper reasons to switch to vos if you want to:

• Build real friendships
• Avoid always being “the outsider”
• Do business in Argentina successfully
• Feel at home while Living in Buenos Aires or anywhere in the country

Using vos shows:

• You respect the local way of speaking
• You made an effort to Learn Spanish in Argentina, not just from a generic app
• You’re interested in the culture, not only the landscape

Small example:

Imagine someone moves to the US, speaks perfect English, but always says “thou” instead of “you”.

You’d understand them, but it would sound strange, right?
That’s how tú feels in most of Argentina.

Practical Sentences with Vos for Your First Week

Here are ready-made phrases you can use as soon as you land:

Meeting people

• ¿Cómo andás? – How are you?
• ¿De dónde sos? – Where are you from?
• ¿Hace cuánto vivís en Buenos Aires? – How long have you been living in Buenos Aires?

Work & digital nomad life

• ¿Vos trabajás remoto? – Do you work remotely?
• ¿A qué te dedicás? – What do you do for a living?
• ¿Podés recomendarme un café para trabajar? – Can you recommend a café to work from?

Daily life

• ¿Vivís cerca de acá? – Do you live near here?
• ¿Venís seguido a este bar? – Do you come to this bar often?
• ¿Podés hablar más despacio? – Can you speak more slowly?

Try replacing tú with vos in your head and repeating these out loud. This is how your brain rewires from “textbook Spanish” to Argentine Spanish.

How to Continue learning:

The text you gave me comes from a short mini-lesson (“less than 5 minutes”) in a bigger series of videos about Argentine Spanish.

If you want to go from this little tú vs vos explanation to speaking like a real local, you can:

• Watch the full one-hour video: “The Most Complete Video to Learn Argentinian Spanish” (where I explain pronunciation, vos, slang, culture and more minute-by-minute).
• Explore the playlists:
  • Argentine vocabulary
  • Learn Spanish from scratch
  • Argento Podcast

Learn how to use ‘vos’ with this video:

How I Can Help You Speak Argentinian Spanish

If you’re serious about traveling, moving to Argentina, or just finally learning the language that you’ve always wanted to speak — I’m here to help.

I’m Nicolas Gonzalez Miño, Argentine Spanish teacher, owner of the YouTube Channel “Spanish with Nico”, the founder of Spanish Mindset Academy – Learn Argentinian Spanish and the author of Mini Stories to Learn Spanish for Beginners, available on Amazon. Also, I have 2 podcast Argento Podcast, & Argentine Spanish from Scratch where I teach real Argentinian Spanish and slang.

In my YouTube Channel “Spanish with Nico”, with +1500 subscribers, I teach Spanish language and our dialect -Argentinian Spanish- and I explain everything about Argentinian history and culture.

In my 1:1 programs, you can learn Argentinian Spanish from scratch, for traveling / living / business & finally REACH FLUENCY in Argentine Spanish.

Start learning Argentinian Spanish right now and be free in ARGENTINA!

👉 Ready to start?

Check the links below to join the Spanish Mindset Program, get the book, or contact me directly on here.

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