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.