Verbs: Imperative Mood — Catalan Grammar

The imperative mood is used to give commands, make requests, offer advice, or give instructions. The form of the verb changes depending on whether the command is positive or negative, and on the level of formality.

Positive Informal Commands

Informal commands are used with people you would address as (you, singular) or (you, plural).

The 'tu' form

For most verbs, this form is identical to the third-person singular (ell/ella) of the present indicative.

Parla més a poc a poc, si us plau.
Speak more slowly, please.
Menja tota la verdura.
Eat all the vegetables.
Obre la finestra.
Open the window.

Some common verbs have irregular forms:

→ (be)
→ (go)
→ (have)
→ (come)
→ (do/make)
→ (say/tell)

The 'vosaltres' form

The standard form is created by taking the infinitive, removing the final , and adding . For verbs, the changes to .

Canteu amb nosaltres!
Sing with us! (from cantar)
Beveu aigua.
Drink water. (from beure)
Dormiu bé.
Sleep well. (from dormir)

In the Barcelona region, it is very common in spoken language to use the infinitive instead of the correct imperative form.

Seure, si us plau.
Sit down, please. (instead of the formal seieu)
Callar!
Be quiet! (instead of the formal calleu)

Positive Formal Commands

Formal commands are used with people you would address as (you, singular) or (you, plural). These forms use the present subjunctive.

For , use the third-person singular subjunctive.
For , use the third-person plural subjunctive.

The endings are:

-ar verbs: (), ()
-er/-re/-ir verbs: (), ()

Giri a la dreta.
Turn right. (formal singular)
Esperin un moment, si us plau.
Wait a moment, please. (formal plural)
Senyor, prengui el meu seient.
Sir, take my seat. (formal singular)

Verbs with stem changes in the subjunctive maintain them in the formal imperative.

Serveixi el vi primer.
Serve the wine first. (formal singular)
Condueixin amb compte.
Drive carefully. (formal plural)

Negative Commands

All negative commands, both formal and informal, are formed with followed by the present subjunctive form of the verb.

tu: + 2nd person singular subjunctive (, )
vosaltres: + 2nd person plural subjunctive (, )
vostè: + 3rd person singular subjunctive ()
vostès: + 3rd person plural subjunctive ()

No corris pel passadís.
Don't run in the hallway. (informal singular)
No obriu els llibres encara.
Don't open the books yet. (informal plural)
No fumi aquí dins, si us plau.
Don't smoke in here, please. (formal singular)
No facin soroll.
Don't make noise. (formal plural)

Commands with Pronouns

The placement of object pronouns depends on whether the command is positive or negative.

Positive Commands: Pronouns are attached to the end of the verb, forming one word. An accent is often added to maintain the original stress of the verb.

Dona'm la sal.
Give me the salt.
Compra'l.
Buy it.
Porteu-nos el compte.
Bring us the bill.

When attaching a pronoun to the form, the final of the verb is dropped.

Mireu + la → Mireu-la.
Look at her.
Agafeu + ho → Agafeu-ho.
Take it.

Negative Commands: Pronouns are placed between and the conjugated verb.

No m'ho diguis.
Don't tell it to me.
No la toquis.
Don't touch it.
No els compreu.
Don't buy them.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Catalan course

43 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 23. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Imperative Mood” is about in bold:

Aneu a veure la cuina. És molt petita.
Go and check out (pl.) the kitchen. It is so small.
Lesson 322
No mengis això! És porc!
Don't eat that! That's pork!
Lesson 366
No oblidis el formatge per al nostre pícnic.
Don't forget the cheese for our picnic.
Lesson 477

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