---
name: locale-es-uy
description: Use when working with the Spanish (Uruguay) locale (`es-UY`) — its endonym Español (Uruguay), Latin script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.
---

# Locale: Spanish (Uruguay) (es-UY)

Reference data for the **Spanish (Uruguay)** locale — endonym **Español (Uruguay)**, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

## Identifiers

- **BCP 47 tag:** `es-UY`
- **ISO 639-1:** `es`
- **ISO 639-3:** `spa`
- **Script:** Latn (Latin)
- **Region:** UY (Uruguay)
- **Text direction:** ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

## Speakers (approximate)

- **L1 (native):** 3,400,000
- **L2 (additional):** 100,000
- **L1+L2 (total):** 3,500,000

## Base locale

This is a regional variant of [[locale-es-001]] (Spanish), the base/macro locale for this language.

## Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: **one**, **many**, **other** (3 forms).

- **one** — `n = 1` (e.g. 1)
- **many** — `e = 0 and i != 0 and i % 1000000 = 0 and v = 0 or e != 0..5` (e.g. 1000000, …)
- **other** — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural messages using these categories.

## Translating into this locale

Start from the general Spanish guidance in [[locale-es-419]] (grammar, register, and typography) and apply the following Uruguayan-specific points.

- **Address:** voseo is used informally, much like in Argentina ("vos tenés"), and "tú" with voseo-like verb forms is also heard; "usted" is formal. Use "vos" forms for informal copy only if the brand wants a local feel.
- **Vocabulary:** shared with Rioplatense speech: "computadora", "celular", "auto", "ómnibus" or "bondi" (bus).
- **Currency and formats:** peso uruguayo (symbol "$U" in some contexts); decimal comma, period thousands separator.
- **Tone:** local copy is reserved and polite, less colloquial than Argentine copy.

## Common pitfalls

- Using the address form, vocabulary, or number format of another region; confirm each against the target country.
- Writing spoken slang or dialect spellings in standard text.
- The general pitfalls in [[locale-es-001]] (word order, capitalization, false friends, and agreement) also apply here.

## Learn more

- [[locale]] for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
- [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
- Real Academia Española and ASALE, Diccionario panhispánico de dudas and Ortografía de la lengua española (2010), https://www.rae.es
- Unicode CLDR locale data for number, date, and currency formats of each Spanish region (https://cldr.unicode.org)