Verbs: Imperative Mood

01

Affirmative Informal Commands

When addressing friends, family, or children, use the informal pronouns tú (singular) and vosotros / vosotras (plural).

The tú form

For most verbs, the affirmative tú command is identical to the third-person singular of the present indicative tense.

• For -ar verbs, the ending is -a.
• For -er and -ir verbs, the ending is -e.

• ¡Habla más alto!

  Speak louder!

• Escribe tu nombre aquí.

  Write your name here.

There are eight common verbs with irregular affirmative tú forms that must be memorized:

• decir → di
• hacer → haz
• ir → ve
• poner → pon
• salir → sal
• ser → sé
• tener → ten
• venir → ven

• ¡Haz la cama ahora mismo!

  Make the bed right now!

• Ten cuidado con el perro.

  Be careful with the dog.

The vosotros form

This form is specific to European Spanish. To form it, take the infinitive of the verb, remove the final -r, and replace it with a -d. This rule applies to all verbs without exception.

• ¡Esperad un momento!

  Wait a moment! (to a group)

• Comed las verduras.

  Eat the vegetables.

02

Affirmative Formal Commands

When addressing people with whom you use usted (singular) or ustedes (plural), use the formal commands. These forms are derived from the present subjunctive.

To form them, take the yo form of the present tense, drop the -o, and add the "opposite" vowel ending:

• For -ar verbs, add -e (singular) or -en (plural).
• For -er and -ir verbs, add -a (singular) or -an (plural).

• Hable más despacio, por favor.

  Speak more slowly, please. (to one person)

• Coman todo lo que quieran.

  Eat as much as you want. (to a group)

• Tenga paciencia.

  Have patience.

03

The "Nosotros" Command

To say "let's" do something, use the nosotros form. This is identical to the nosotros form of the present subjunctive.

• ¡Bailemos!

  Let's dance!

• Salgamos de aquí.

  Let's get out of here.

04

Negative Commands

Negative commands (telling someone not to do something) follow a different pattern than affirmative commands. For negative commands, all persons (tú, vosotros, usted, ustedes, nosotros) use the present subjunctive forms preceded by no.

Informal Negative (tú and vosotros)

Unlike the affirmative, the negative tú form ends in -es (for -ar verbs) or -as (for -er/-ir verbs). The negative vosotros form ends in -éis or -áis.

• No hables con extraños.

  Don't talk to strangers. (tú)

• No comáis eso.

  Don't eat that. (vosotros)

Formal Negative (usted and ustedes)

These remain the same as the affirmative forms, just with no added.

• No fume aquí.

  Don't smoke here. (usted)

• No abran el libro todavía.

  Don't open the book yet. (ustedes)

05

Pronoun Placement

The position of object pronouns (like lo, la, me, te) and reflexive pronouns (like se) depends strictly on whether the command is affirmative or negative.

Affirmative Commands

Pronouns are attached to the end of the verb to form a single word. If the resulting word has three or more syllables, a written accent mark is usually required to maintain the original stress.

• Dímelo.

  Tell it to me.

• Siéntate.

  Sit down.

• Compradlo.

  Buy it. (vosotros)

Negative Commands

Pronouns are placed before the verb and after no. They are written as separate words.

• No me lo digas.

  Don't tell it to me.

• No te sientes.

  Don't sit down.

• No lo compréis.

  Don't buy it. (vosotros)

06

Reflexive Verbs in Affirmative Commands

When attaching the reflexive pronoun os to the affirmative vosotros command, the final -d of the verb is dropped before adding -os.

• sentad + os → sentaos (Sit down)
• callad + os → callaos (Shut up)

The only exception is the verb ir (to go):

• ¡Idos de aquí!

  Go away from here!

Similarly, when attaching nos to the nosotros command, the final -s is dropped.

• vayamos + nos → vámonos (Let's go)

• Lavémonos las manos.

  Let's wash our hands.