Contents · A2
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The imperative is used to ask, advise, invite, give an instruction or show the way. It has four forms, for the familiar tú and vosotros and for the formal usted and ustedes, addressed to one or several people; the subject pronoun is not expressed. Where English has one form, “speak!”, the Spanish form is chosen according to the person addressed: habla, hable, hablad, hablen. The negative imperative has forms of its own (no hables), which A2 does not yet teach.
The affirmative imperative: habla, hablad, hable, hablen#
Formation
Tú: the form is that of the third person singular of the present: habla, come, escribe, and, with stem-changing verbs, cierra, vuelve, pide, sigue. Vosotros: the -r of the infinitive becomes -d: hablad, comed, escribid, cerrad. Usted: the form is built on the first person singular of the present, whose -o becomes -e for verbs in -ar and -a for verbs in -er and -ir: hablo → hable, como → coma, escribo → escriba. Ustedes: the usted form takes an -n: hablen, coman, escriban.
Irregular tú forms. Seven very common verbs have a short form with tú: decir → di, hacer → haz, poner → pon, salir → sal, venir → ven, tener → ten, ir → ve. With vosotros, they are regular: decid, haced, poned, salid, venid, tened, id.
Irregular usted forms. As the usted form is built on the first person of the present, the irregularity of that first person is found in it too: digo → diga, hago → haga, pongo → ponga, salgo → salga, vengo → venga, tengo → tenga; cierro → cierre, vuelvo → vuelva, pido → pida, sigo → siga. Ir gives vaya, vayan. The spelling changes to keep the sound before e: cruzar → cruce, llegar → llegue, buscar → busque. These usted and ustedes forms are those of the present subjunctive.
| Infinitive | tú | usted | vosotros | ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hablar | habla | hable | hablad | hablen |
| comer | come | coma | comed | coman |
| escribir | escribe | escriba | escribid | escriban |
| cerrar | cierra | cierre | cerrad | cierren |
| hacer | haz | haga | haced | hagan |
| decir | di | diga | decid | digan |
| venir | ven | venga | venid | vengan |
| ir | ve | vaya | id | vayan |
Reciting the forms in the order tú, usted, vosotros, ustedes fixes, for each verb, the short tú form and the stem of the first person. The verb tables also give the nosotros form, which is not studied at this level.
| hablar | hacer | ir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| tú | habla | haz | ve |
| él/ella | hable | haga | vaya |
| nosotros | hablemos | hagamos | vayamos |
| vosotros | hablad | haced | id |
| ellos/ellas | hablen | hagan | vayan |
Use
The imperative expresses an order, a request, a piece of advice, an instruction or an invitation: Pasa, pasa (“come in, come in”). It is softened with por favor. Vosotros is used in Spain; in Latin America, ustedes addresses several people, whether familiar or formal.
- Abre la ventana, por favor.Open the window, please.
- Niños, comed las verduras.Children, eat your vegetables.
- Señor López, espere un momento, por favor.Mr López, wait a moment, please.
- Pon el agua en la nevera.Put the water in the fridge.
- Vengan a las ocho, señoras.Come at eight, ladies.
Difference from English
English “come!” is one form for everyone; Spanish has four: ven (tú), venga (usted), venid (vosotros), vengan (ustedes). The tú form looks like the present of él: habla is “he speaks” and “speak!”; the formal form is not the present: usted habla, but ¡Hable!. The negative is not the affirmative with no in front: “don't speak” is no hables, never no habla.
Common mistakes
Hablas más alto, por favor.→ Habla más alto, por favor.In the imperative, the tú form does not take an -s.Hace la cama.→ Haz la cama.The tú imperative of hacer is haz.Señora, come un poco más.→ Señora, coma un poco más.Formal address uses the usted form.Viene aquí, señor Gil.→ Venga aquí, señor Gil.The usted imperative is not the present: venir gives venga.
Practise
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The imperative with a pronoun, and instructions: cómpralo, siéntate, sigue recto#
Formation
In the affirmative imperative, an object or reflexive pronoun is placed after the verb and attached to it, forming one word: compra + lo → cómpralo. The reflexive pronoun is te with tú (siéntate), se with usted and ustedes (siéntese, siéntense), and os with vosotros, before which the -d is dropped: sentaos, levantaos.
The written accent. The stress stays on the same syllable of the verb; when the pronoun adds a syllable, that syllable becomes the third-to-last and the accent is written: cómpralo, léelo, escúchala, llámame, dúchate, siéntese. A one-syllable form followed by a single pronoun takes no accent: dale, dime, ponte, hazlo.
Directions and attention. The imperative is used to give directions (sigue todo recto, gira a la derecha, cruza la calle; siga, gire, cruce with usted) and to catch someone's attention before speaking: mira, oye, perdona with tú; mire, oiga, perdone with usted. In one sentence, every form is addressed to the same person.
| sentarse | |
|---|---|
| tú | siéntate |
| él/ella | siéntese |
| nosotros | sentémonos |
| vosotros | sentaos |
| ellos/ellas | siéntense |
- ¿El pan? Cómpralo en la tienda de la esquina.The bread? Buy it at the shop on the corner.
- Señora, siéntese aquí, por favor.Please sit here, madam.
- Es tarde: acostaos, niños.It's late: go to bed, children.
- Oiga, ¿dónde está el museo del Prado? — Siga todo recto y gire a la izquierda.Excuse me, where is the Prado Museum? — Go straight on and turn left.
- Dime la verdad.Tell me the truth.
Difference from English
English also puts the pronoun after the imperative, “buy it”, “tell me”, but as a separate word. Spanish writes one word, often with a written accent: cómpralo, dime. Many verbs that are not reflexive in English take a reflexive pronoun in Spanish: “sit down” is siéntate, “go to bed” acuéstate. To stop a stranger, “excuse me” is perdone or oiga.
Common mistakes
Lo compra.→ Cómpralo.In the affirmative imperative, the pronoun is placed after the verb.Comprala.→ Cómprala.The stress stays on the same syllable as in compra, so the accent is written.Sienta aquí.→ Siéntate aquí.“Sit down” takes the reflexive pronoun, attached to the end of the imperative.Sigue todo recto y gire a la derecha.→ Sigue todo recto y gira a la derecha.Both forms are addressed to the same person.
In short
| Point | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tú | third person of the present | habla, come, cierra |
| irregular tú | di, haz, pon, sal, ven, ten, ve | Haz la cama. |
| vosotros | infinitive: -r → -d | hablad, comed |
| usted | yo form of the present: -o → -e / -a | hable, coma, diga |
| ustedes | usted form + -n | hablen, digan |
| pronoun | attached after the verb; written accent | cómpralo, siéntate |
| vosotros + os | the -d is dropped | sentaos |
| attention | mira, oye, perdona; mire, oiga, perdone | Oiga, por favor. |
Practise
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