lesson 6.4

What determines,when to use vosotros or tu , in saying you tell it to me.

Tú is the second person singular form, while vosotros is the second person plural.

So if one person is telling you something, use tú. If more than one person is telling you something you would use vosotros.

But, recall that the vosotros form is seldom used in Latin American Spanish. Often the ustedes form is used to express "you all" or "you guys" in Latin American Spanish.

My primary goal is to learn to communicate with Latin American Spanish speakers, so I pretty much ignore the vosotros form just to keep things simpler. I know it is there and I recognize it when I see it, but I don't expend many brain cells learning or using it. I think that people from Spain recognize and make allowances for this, so they completely understand the meaning.

There are some countries in Latin America that use the vosotros form of which Argentina is one: http://www.veintemundos.com/magazines/42-fr/

Regarding the use of tú or usted, here is another interesting article: http://www.veintemundos.com/magazines/133-fr/

Not sure whet level you are at in your Spanish learning, but I would definitely agree with Dan. It's important that you recognize the vosotros form (especially when reading). It has never even come up in my conversations with people from Spain.
 

When I took high school Spanish here is California, we ignored the vosotros forms since our focus was Latin America Spanish.  I have been paying attention to it now so that when I encounter it, I will be prepared.