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I recently met someone from Chile who used "po" as a contraction of "pues" - and said that this is common usage in Chile. Is it used anywhere else?

Recientemente conocí una chilena que utiliza "po" como contracción de "pues" ... ella me dijo que eso es común en Chile. Es conocido en otros países también?

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Chileans don't use "po" as a contraction, it's more of a meaningless sound that gets randomly (to me) inserted into phrases. It's similar to how Malaysians use (or at least used to use) "la". For example, you might here "sí po" or "ya po, apúrate!" – R0MANARMY Dec 1 '12 at 15:47
That's exactly how "pues" is often used in Bolivia, though - "sí pues" and "ya pues" are very common here. My Chilean friend is very clear that "po" means the same as "pues", and she uses it the same way I'm used to for "pues". – Zero Piraeus Dec 1 '12 at 15:55

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Como en cualquier otro idioma, muchas palabras tienden a contraerse en sus formas de uso informales.

Yo no se como se usa en otros países, vivo en España, pero como dice pickoka en la Península ibérica suele usarse Pos.

Mi respuesta final, es que Po como contracción de Pues no llega a algunos países, como por ejemplo España, pero es probable que esos países tengan otras contracciones.

Un saludo

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up vote 1 down vote

Yes, I usually say "pos", in the Iberian peninsule.

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4  
Warning for learners: "Pos" is extremely informal, and it is used mainly when you speak with your friends/family or in situations where you want to sound funny. It's not advisable to use it in other environments, for example in a business meeting because they may think you're laughing at them or that your education is poor. – Javi Nov 19 '12 at 12:50
2  
And, at least in Chile, "mal educado" doesn't mean poorly educated. It means impolite. ;) – Walter Mitty Nov 20 '12 at 15:15

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