The Imperative Mood in Spanish

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How do you give commands or instructions in Spanish? Here’s an introduction to the Spanish imperative mood.

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Before We Dive in Too Deep…Usted/ Ustedes Commands (The Formal “You”)The Affirmative Usted CommandsIrregular Formal CommandsThe Negative Formal CommandsTú/ Vosotros Commands (The Informal “You”)Affirmative “Tú” CommandsIrregular “Tú” CommandsNegative “Tú” CommandsNegative Irregular “Tú” CommandsThe Affirmative “Vosotros” CommandsNegative “Vosotros” Commands

Giving commands is an important part of speaking a language. In Spanish, commands are very important and frequently used in daily speech.
Read on for a quick introduction to this very useful element of the language!

Before We Dive in Too Deep…

Obviously everyone knows what a command is. In English, forming the commands is pretty straightforward and relies more on your intonation than anything. When we heard the term “command” we usually think about a harsh, scolding tone or being told to do something by an authority figure. “Clean your room!” “Turn in that report!” “Don’t be late!”

In Spanish, however, this isn’t always the case. There are a few different ways to give “commands” and some of them would even be considered polite.

Command forms and levels of formality vary by region and situation. In Spain, tú commands are common in informal situations, including some interactions with strangers. In Latin America, local usage may favor tú, vos, or usted; familiarity and respect matter, so follow the local convention.

Usted/ Ustedes Commands (The Formal “You”)

The “usted” conjugation is the formal, respectful “you.” So, this first way of forming the command will be used in any situation you may feel you aren’t comfortable with the person you’re speaking to.

Ustedes is plural “you.” In most of Spain it is the formal plural, while in Latin America and the Canary Islands it is used in both formal and informal situations.

The Affirmative Usted Commands

To form the “affirmative” usted command, you’ll need to go through a few different steps. These will be the same as forming the present subjunctive conjugation of the “usted” and “ustedes” forms.

1. For most verbs, start with the present-tense yo form. The examples below show why this helps.
2. Drop the -o and add the ending:
   -ar verbs: usted -e, ustedes -en.
   -er and -ir verbs: usted -a, ustedes -an.
   Some verbs require additional spelling or stem changes: buscar → busque.

Here are some examples:

*Here, conjugating to the “yo” form may not seem completely necessary, since there is no spelling/ pronunciation change.

**Here, however, we see the importance of going to the “yo” form. If not, the spelling/ pronunciation change will not carry over, and the command would be formed incorrectly.

Irregular Formal Commands

These common “usted/ustedes” commands do not follow the regular yo-form shortcut:

The Negative Formal Commands

Unlike the informal commands which we will see in a moment, there is no change in conjugation when forming the negative formal commands. Simply add a “no” and there you have it!

• Affirmative FormalCommand FormNegative Formal Command Form
• Hable/ HablenNo Hable/ No Hablen
• Diga/ DiganNo Diga/ No Digan
• Coma/ ComanNo Coma/ No Coman
• Venga/ VenganNo Venga/ No Vengan
• Compre/ ComprenNo Compre/ No Compren

Tú/ Vosotros Commands (The Informal “You”)

The “tú” form of conjugating verbs is the informal, familiar “you.” This is used with people you are comfortable with.

Tú is also common in many parts of Latin America, but its use alongside vos and usted varies by region and relationship.

Vosotros is the informal plural in most of Spain. In Latin America and the Canary Islands, ustedes is used for both formal and informal groups.

Affirmative “Tú” Commands

To form the affirmative “tú” command, you will simply conjugate the verb to the 3rd person present conjugation (i.e. the “usted, él, ella”) form.

Irregular “Tú” Commands

These are eight common irregular affirmative “tú” commands:

Negative “Tú” Commands

To form the negative “tú” command, you will need to follow just a few simple steps.

These steps will be the same as forming the present subjunctive in the “tú” form.

1. Go to the Yo!
2. Drop the “o”
3. For regular verbs, add the ending:
   -ar verbs take -es.
   -er and -ir verbs take -as.
   Irregular subjunctive forms and spelling changes still apply.

Negative Irregular “Tú” Commands

To form the negative form of the irregular “tú” commands, you will follow the same pattern as the present subjunctive “tú” conjugations.

*The subjunctive of ser is irregular: soy → seas, so the command is no seas. Memorize this form; simply removing -oy and adding an ending does not produce it. Estar gives no estés, with an accent on é.

**The present subjunctive of ir is also irregular: voy → vayas. The negative command is no vayas.

The Affirmative “Vosotros” Commands

As mentioned before, this will be used primarily in Spain.

To form the affirmative “vosotros” command, it’s actually very simple!

1. Start with the verb form in infinitive
2. Change the “r” to a “d”

*Notice how even verbs which are almost always irregular in their conjugations follow the same rules as the others when forming the affirmative “vosotros” command.

Negative “Vosotros” Commands

Like with the negative “tú” commands, these are formed the same as their present subjunctive counterparts.

1. Go to the Yo!
2. Drop the “o”
3. For regular verbs, add the ending:
   -ar verbs take -éis.
   -er and -ir verbs take -áis.
   Some verbs have a different stem here: duermo → no durmáis, rather than simply keeping the entire yo stem.

Conclusion

At first glance, the imperative form in Spanish can seem a little overwhelming. The best way to get familiar with them is simply with practice!

Learn Spanish step-by-step with this complete method with audio!