Central American Spanish - Voseo

Voseo

The most common form for the second person singular in Central America is vos . However, usted is the dominant second person singular pronoun in Costa Rican Spanish. Vos is used in Costa Rica by many speakers in certain "familiar" relationships or informal contexts, specially in the Central Valley and Guanacaste. Costa Ricans tend to use 'usted' with foreign people. Another important detail is that in Panama, the form "tú" is used instead since this country has been always closer to Caribbean Spanish than Central American Spanish. Vos is usually spoken more in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

People say "Vení" for "Come here" or "Pedí tu cosa" for "Order your thing" (see picture).
The imperative is formed by dropping the final -R of the infinitive, and then adding an acute accent to the final vowel to retain the stress.

The only irregular conjugation in the imperative is the verb ir and ser.

The conjugation of the present tense follows the pattern of replacing the final -R of the infinitive with an -S and adding an acute accent to the previous vowel.

Note how the conjugation of vos presents fewer irregularities compared to tú.

The main difference of the voseo in Argentina is the conjugation of the subjunctive. Rioplatense Spanish prefers the subjunctive forms of tú, whereas in Central America, the vos forms are retained.

The pronoun usted is used when addressing older, unfamiliar or respected persons, as it is in all Spanish countries; however, in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras it is frequently used with younger people, and in Honduras between husband and wife, and friends. In Nicaragua, the pronoun is only used among youth during special or formal occasions or when addressing unfamiliar individuals in a formal manner. It's also used with most, if not all, profanities familiar to the region.

The use of tú in Costa Rica is considered pedantic except in the south, where it is preferred.