El Imperativo Formal (Los Mandatos Formales)

The command is used to tell someone who you can not call by their first name what to do. It is the polite way to give commands.

To form the command: 1) take the “yo” form in present tense2) drop the “o”3) For “AR” verbs, add “e(n)” & “a(n)” for ER/IR verbs

To give negative commands, put the word “no” before the command

EjemplosInfinitivo Presente (yo) Ud. Mandato Uds. Mandato Preparar preparo prepare preparenComer como coma comanAbrir abro abra abranHacer hago haga haganSalir salgo salga salganConducir conduzco conduzca conduzcan

Verbos con el cambio radical (Stem-changers)Infinitivo Presente (yo) Ud. Mandato Uds. Mandato Pensar (ie) pienso piense piensenRevolver (ue) revuelvo revuelva revuelvanHervir (ie) hiervo hierva hiervanServir (i) sirvo sirva sirvanFreír (i) frío fría frían

Verbos con el cambio ortográfico (Spelling-changers)Infinitivo Presente (yo) Ud. Mandato Uds. Mandato Picar (qu) pico pique piquenAgregar (gu) agrego agregue agreguenLanzar (c) lanzo lance lancen

Las Formas Irregulares - SIDES Infinitivo Presente (yo) Ud. Mandato Uds. Mandato Ser soy sea seanIr voy vaya vayanDar doy dé denEstar estoy esté esténSaber sé sepa sepan

Rules for using pronouns with negative commands:Object pronouns always precede negative formal and familiar commands.

Remember the correct order of placement for object pronouns: RID (Reflexive-Indirect-Direct).

Ud. Mandato negativo¡No se levante!¡No me lo dé!¡No me lo compre!¡No me mire!¡No se lo diga!

Rules for using pronouns with affirmative commands:Object pronouns are always attached to affirmative formal and familiar commands.

Remember the correct order of placement for object pronouns: RID (Reflexive-Indirect-Direct).

Use a written accent as required to maintain the same stress as the original command without pronouns.

This means for formal commands, you will use a written accent with either one or two pronouns:

Diga. Dígame. Dígamelo.

El acento ortográfico (written accent)

Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are usually stressed on the next-to-last syllable. Exceptions have an accent mark over the stressed vowel: niño, joven, compras, semáforo, almacén, jóvenes

Words ending in a consonant other than -n or -s are usually stressed on the last syllable. Exceptions have an accent mark over the stressed vowel: papel, ciudad, repetir, ángel, lápiz, Héctor

All question words have an accent mark over the stressed vowel: ¿quién?, ¿qué?, ¿cuándo?, ¿dónde?

Some words have an accent mark to distinguish them from a similar word: el, él; tu, tú; mi, mí; si, sí; se, sé