I find this comment particularly interesting. I fully agree with it, but insofar as it pertains to the use of the form in Argentina I must say that I hear the tes ending most frequently precisely in the mouths of Argentine acquaintances who are college educated, exceptionally urbane, and professional wordsmiths to boot. What is all the more fascinating is that although they use it constantly in conversation, they never write it. I've known these people for decades and the phenomenon has never stopped surprising me because, as this forero says, it is considered lowbrow ("...a certain social procedence...") throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Until now I thought it was part of the Argentine way of speaking.
Thank you Idiomático.
You shed new light into the matter.
The use of
-tes may be considered lowbrow in most (just an assumption) of Spanish speaking world, yet in some societies (not necessarily uneducated) it is perceived as relaxed speaking.
It's interesting how many said that they say
-tes among family and friends, and would find it even awkward omitting the
-S in informal situations.
Another thing that escaped me was the logic behind
-tes.
"Hablastes" is by no means unusual. I hear it all the time, and what's more, I think I have said it myself, though I'm not sure.
It's funny, in Classical Latin this form was already the only one for 2nd person singular not ending with 's', as you can check here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_conjugation
I wouldn't be surprised to know that this "hablaste"/"hablastes" question dates back to Vulgar Latin, and that "hablastes" has been regularly rebuked by grammarians all these centuries to keep the similarity with Latin. It would be interesting to know how the corresponding form is said in other Romance languages, but neither French nor Catalan have forms derived from "amavisti".
Portuguese is just like Spanish in this regard, including the tendency to add that spurious
-s:
falastes
falaste
Based on the fact that
-tes exists in basically the whole Spanish speaking world and even Portuguese, it is probable that the adding of the
-S already existed in Vulgar Latin times.
I know that we should stick to the tradition (although fact is, the Romance languages are descended from
Vulgar Latin), but I think someone who applies the logic by adding the
-S shouldn't be called stupid at all.
After all, many modern sciences
are based on logical thinking, aren't they?
I'd like to assure you all that I am not promoting
-tes, yet I try not to pass judgment upon those who use it. And as I said, I think the best way is to explain the students about the situation and the reactions they may get from using
-tes, and give them a fair, non-judgmental advice.
Saludos,
MarX