Commands in Spanish.Affirmative & negative. Formal & informal.

The affirmative imperative, imperativo afirmativo, is used to give direct commands, requests, or instructions: “Speak,” “Eat,” or “Come.” It is especially common when telling someone to carry out an action.

Definition and usage

Spanish affirmative commands vary according to the person addressed. Informal commands generally use tú or vosotros, while respectful or formal commands use usted or ustedes. The affirmative imperative can express a firm order, a polite request, or practical instructions.

Regular verbs

• For tú, use the third-person singular of the present indicative: habla, come, and vive.
• For usted and ustedes, use the corresponding present subjunctive forms: hable, hablen, and so on.
• For vosotros, replace the final -r of the infinitive with -d: hablad, comed, and vivid.

Habla más despacio. — Speak more slowly.

Coma algo. — Eat something. (formal)

Vivid el momento. — Live in the moment. (informal plural, Spain)

Common irregular verbs

Several common verbs have irregular tú commands and must be learned individually. Their usted forms follow the present subjunctive.

• decir “to say”: di (tú), diga (usted)
• ir “to go”: ve (tú), vaya (usted)
• hacer “to do, make”: haz (tú), haga (usted)

Di la verdad. — Tell the truth.

Haz la tarea. — Do the homework.

The affirmative imperative gives direct orders, requests, or instructions. The forms depend on the person addressed.

Regular verbs

-AR verbs

• tú: use the third-person singular present indicative: hablar becomes habla.
• usted: use the present subjunctive: hablar becomes hable.
• vosotros: replace infinitive -r with -d: hablar becomes hablad.
• ustedes: use the present subjunctive: hablar becomes hablen.

-ER and -IR verbs

• tú: use the third-person singular present indicative: comer becomes come and vivir becomes vive.
• usted: use the present subjunctive: comer becomes coma and vivir becomes viva.
• vosotros: replace infinitive -r with -d: comer becomes comed and vivir becomes vivid.
• ustedes: use the present subjunctive: comer becomes coman and vivir becomes vivan.

Common irregular verbs

The affirmative tú forms of several frequent verbs are irregular: decir di, hacer haz, ir ve, poner pon, salir sal, ser sé, tener ten, and venir ven. The usted, vosotros, and ustedes forms use the present subjunctive or the regular vosotros ending, with any necessary stem changes. For example, decir has diga, decid, and digan.

The negative imperative, imperativo negativo, is used to prohibit or discourage an action. It tells someone not to do something: “Don’t speak,” “Don’t eat,” or “Don’t go.”

Unlike affirmative commands, all negative commands use the corresponding present subjunctive form, preceded by no.

• With -ar verbs, the endings are -es for tú, -e for usted, -emos for nosotros, -éis for vosotros, and -en for ustedes.
• With -er and -ir verbs, the endings are -as for tú, -a for usted, -amos for nosotros, -áis for vosotros, and -an for ustedes.

No toques eso. — Don’t touch that.

No vayas allí. — Don’t go there.

No hagas eso. — Don’t do that.

The negative imperative is formed with no plus the appropriate present subjunctive form. This applies to regular and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs

• -AR verbs: use -es for tú, -e for usted, -emos for nosotros, -éis for vosotros, and -en for ustedes.
• -ER and -IR verbs: use -as for tú, -a for usted, -amos for nosotros, -áis for vosotros, and -an for ustedes.

Irregular verbs

Irregular negative commands use the irregular present subjunctive stem or another spelling change required by that form.

• ser: no seas (tú), no sea (usted), no seamos (nosotros), no seáis (vosotros), no sean (ustedes)
• ir: no vayas, no vaya, no vayamos, no vayáis, no vayan
• hacer: no hagas, no haga, no hagamos, no hagáis, no hagan
• decir: no digas, no diga, no digamos, no digáis, no digan
• tener: no tengas, no tenga, no tengamos, no tengáis, no tengan
• poner: no pongas, no ponga, no pongamos, no pongáis, no pongan
• venir: no vengas, no venga, no vengamos, no vengáis, no vengan

Spanish commands can be formal or informal, and either affirmative or negative. The choice depends on familiarity, respect, and regional usage.

Formal commands

Usted addresses one person respectfully, and ustedes addresses a group. Both affirmative and negative formal commands use the present subjunctive; negative commands add no.

• Affirmative: Hable (usted). — Speak. (formal) Hablen (ustedes). — Speak. (formal plural)
• Affirmative: Coma (usted). — Eat. (formal) Vivan (ustedes). — Live. (formal plural)
• Negative: No hable (usted). — Don’t speak. (formal) No coman (ustedes). — Don’t eat. (formal plural)

Informal commands

Tú is commonly used with friends, family, children, and people with whom the speaker is familiar. In Spain, vosotros is the informal plural; most of Latin America uses ustedes instead.

• Affirmative tú: use the third-person singular present indicative for regular verbs: Habla. — Speak. Come. — Eat. Vive. — Live.
• Negative tú: use no plus the second-person singular present subjunctive: No hables. — Don’t speak. No comas. — Don’t eat. No vivas así. — Don’t live that way.
• Vosotros: the affirmative form replaces infinitive -r with -d, while the negative form uses no plus the second-person plural present subjunctive: Hablad. — Speak. (informal plural, Spain) No comáis. — Don’t eat. (informal plural, Spain) Vivid el momento. — Live in the moment. (informal plural, Spain)

Object and reflexive pronouns follow different placement rules in affirmative and negative commands. When both indirect and direct object pronouns occur, the indirect pronoun comes first: me lo, te la, and so on.

Affirmative commands

Attach pronouns directly to the end of an affirmative command.

• Dímelo. — Tell it to me.
• Hazlo. — Do it.
• Levántate. — Stand up.

Attaching pronouns can change the stress, so a written accent is often needed: di + me + lo becomes dímelo.

Negative commands

Place pronouns before the verb; do not attach them. The pronoun order remains indirect object pronoun before direct object pronoun.

• No me lo digas. — Don’t tell it to me.
• No lo hagas. — Don’t do it.
• No te levantes. — Don’t stand up.