Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Step1
The first and most important difference in Argentine Spanish you will encounter is the use of “vos” instead of the standard “tú.” These words both translate to the present tense, second person “you” in English, with informal implications.
Step2
Vos also has an impact on verb conjugations. As you already know, in Spanish, the ending of the verb is dropped and a new ending is added on depending on the pronoun that is used. The standard verb endings for -ar and -er/-ir verbs for the “tú” form in Spanish are -as and -es, respectively. In Castellano, generally speaking, the endings are -ás, és, and -í. For example: Vos comés, not comes. Vos tenés, not tienes. Vos hablás, not hablas.
Step3
There are some irregulars that do not follow the standard verb endings. Ser is the most important of these, which becomes “sos” in the vos form. For example: "Vos sos un estudiante inteligente" means "You are an intelligent student."
Step4
The double “l” is pronounced as “zsh.”
Example: calle = “ca-zshay,” pollo = “po-zshow”
Step5
A “y” in Castellano is pronounced also as “zsh.”
Example: yo = “zshow,” mayo = “ma-zshow”, playa = “pla-zsha”
Step6
Usually, or sometimes, depending on who you ask, if there is an “s” that appears in the middle of a word before another consonant, or at the end of a word (unless that word begins with a vowel), the “s” is not pronounced. An aspirated “hh” sound replaces the omitted “s” sound. For example: dos = “dohh,” flores = “flor-ehh,” pasta = “pahh-ta.”