Spanish imperative commands are used to tell someone to do something, not do something, make a suggestion, or give instructions. This cheat sheet helps students quickly choose the correct command form for tú, usted, ustedes, and nosotros. It is especially useful for classroom directions, recipes, advice, and everyday conversations.
Clear command patterns also help students avoid mixing formal and informal speech.
The most important idea is that affirmative tú commands often use the él, ella, usted form of the present tense, while negative tú commands use the present subjunctive. Formal commands and nosotros commands also use present subjunctive forms. Pronouns attach to affirmative commands but come before negative commands, and written accent marks may be needed to keep the original stress.
Key Facts
- Affirmative tú commands usually use the él, ella, usted present tense form, such as habla, come, and escribe.
- The eight common irregular affirmative tú commands are di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, and ven.
- Negative tú commands use no plus the opposite present subjunctive ending, such as no hables, no comas, and no escribas.
- Usted and ustedes commands use present subjunctive forms, such as hable, coma, escriba, hablen, coman, and escriban.
- Nosotros commands mean let's and use present subjunctive forms, such as hablemos, comamos, and escribamos.
- Stem-changing verbs usually keep the stem change in tú, usted, and ustedes commands, such as pide, no pidas, and pidan.
- Object pronouns attach to affirmative commands, as in dímelo, but go before negative commands, as in no me lo digas.
- Add a written accent to an affirmative command with attached pronouns when needed to keep the original stress, such as siéntate and escríbelo.
Vocabulary
- Imperative
- The verb mood used to give commands, instructions, requests, or advice.
- Affirmative command
- A command that tells someone to do an action, such as estudia or escuche.
- Negative command
- A command that tells someone not to do an action, such as no hables or no corran.
- Present subjunctive
- A verb form used to make most negative commands and formal commands in Spanish.
- Object pronoun
- A word such as me, te, lo, la, nos, or les that receives or is affected by the action.
- Accent mark
- A written mark used to show stress or distinguish words, often needed when pronouns attach to commands.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using the infinitive as a command is wrong because Spanish commands need a conjugated form, so say habla instead of hablar for an informal command.
- Using an affirmative tú form after no is wrong because negative tú commands use the present subjunctive, so say no hables instead of no habla.
- Forgetting irregular affirmative tú commands is wrong because verbs like decir and hacer do not follow the regular pattern, so use di and haz.
- Putting pronouns after negative commands is wrong because pronouns come before the verb in negative commands, so say no me llames instead of no llámame.
- Forgetting accent marks with attached pronouns can change the stress of the word, so write siéntate or dámelo when the command needs the original stress.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write the affirmative tú command for hablar, comer, escribir, and poner.
- 2 Change these to negative tú commands: estudia, abre la puerta, haz la tarea, and dime la verdad.
- 3 Give the usted and ustedes commands for escuchar, leer, and repetir.
- 4 Explain why no come is not the correct way to say do not eat to a friend.
Understanding Imperative — Commands
A useful way to build many command forms is to begin with the present tense yo form. Remove the final o, then use the ending linked to the person being addressed. This method matters because several verbs have an irregular yo form, and that irregularity often carries into commands.
For example, tener becomes tengo in the yo form, which helps explain forms such as tenga and tengan. Learning the yo form first gives students a reliable path instead of requiring every command to be memorized separately.
Commands carry information about social distance. Tú is used with one person in an informal setting, while usted shows respect or distance. A student might use tú with a sibling but usted with an unfamiliar adult, depending on the country and situation.
Ustedes addresses a group in most of Latin America. In Spain, speakers often use vosotros for an informal group, which has its own command forms. A reference focused on ustedes remains useful because it is understood across the Spanish-speaking world.
Pronouns become especially important when a command includes a person or thing receiving the action. Spanish places an indirect object pronoun before a direct object pronoun. The order is me, te, le, nos, os, les before lo, la, los, or las.
When le or les comes before one of those direct object pronouns, it changes to se. This produces forms such as dáselo, meaning give it to him, her, or you formally.
Reflexive pronouns follow the same placement pattern. In siéntate, te shows that the action returns to the person being addressed.
Accent marks in attached-pronoun commands are not decorative. Spanish normally stresses a predictable syllable. Adding one or two pronouns can shift the word shape and make readers stress the wrong part.
The written accent restores the stress that the original command had. Compare escribe with escríbelo.
Students should say each form aloud slowly and identify the stressed syllable before deciding whether an accent is needed. This is often more dependable than guessing from spelling alone.
Some command errors happen because students apply one pattern everywhere. The short affirmative tú forms for verbs such as decir, hacer, ir, poner, salir, ser, tener, and venir need special attention. Their negative forms do not use those same short forms.
Another common mistake is carrying an affirmative pronoun pattern into a negative instruction. In real life, this matters in directions, warnings, recipes, classroom rules, and health advice. A polite word such as por favor can soften a command, but choosing the correct person and pronoun position still does the main grammar work.