Imperativos formales e informales (Formal and Informal Commands)

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The Imperative

(El imperativo)

FormThe imperative is a verbal mood, like the indicative and the subjunctive. It is used to give a direct command to someone. For that reason, only the forms for t, usted, vosotros, ustedes and nosotros exist, since they are the only ones that can be directly addressed to someone. Out of these five forms, only the ones that correspond to affirmative t and vosotros are true imperatives; the command forms of usted, ustedes and nosotros, and the negative commands of t and vosotros are the corresponding forms of the present subjunctive.

1) T / vosotros Informal or familiar commands

Affirmative

HablarComerEscribir

Thablacomeescribe

Vosotroshabladcomedescribid

The t form corresponds to the third person singular of the present indicative. There are a few irregular verbs:

Di (decir)

Haz (hacer)

Pon (poner)

Sal (salir)

S (ser)

Ten (tener)

Ve (ir)

Ven (venir)

The vosotros form is obtained by dropping the r of the infinitive and adding d. This form is only used in Spain. In all other Spanish-speaking countries, the ustedes form is used instead.

Negative

HablarComerEscribir

Tno hablesno comas no escribas

Vosotrosno hablisno comisno escribis

The negative is always the corresponding present subjunctive form. No exceptions.

2) Usted / ustedes Formal commands

Affirmative and Negative

HablarComerEscribir

Ustedhable / no hablecoma / no comaescriba / no escriba

Ustedeshablen / no hablencoman / no comanescriban / no escriban

3) NosotrosAffirmative and Negative

HablarComerEscribir

Nosotroshablemos

no hablemoscomamos

no comamosescribamos

no escribamos

There is only one irregular form of the nosotros command: in the affirmative, vamos (from ir) is preferred to the more rare and formal vayamos. In the negative, vayamos is used because no vamos can be interpreted as we are not going instead of lets not go.

Use and TranslationThe command forms in Spanish can be used with or without the subject. If the subject is present, normally for emphasis or clarification, it usually follows the verb (although sometimes it can precede the verb). In English, this subject is usually omitted, although sometimes it is also present:

Habla con el profesor.

Talk to the professor.

Yo? Habla t con l!

Me? You talk to him!

T calla! / Calla t!

You shut up! / Shut up, you!

Venga usted por aqu.

Come this way.

Pasen, pasen.

Come in, come in.

Comamos en paz.

Lets eat in peace.

Pasemos nosotros si ellos no quieren.Let us* go in if they dont want to.

*If the nosotros command is used without the subject, it is usually translated as lets into English; if the subject is present in Spanish, it is better to translate it as let us, emphasizing us.

Placement of Object PronounsWhen an imperative requires a reflexive, direct object, or indirect object pronoun, its position will depend on whether the imperative is affirmative or negative. With an affirmative command, the object pronoun is attached at the end of the verb, and an accent mark will need to be added in some cases. With the negative command, the object pronoun is placed between the negation and the verb.

1) T, usted and ustedes affirmative commands

If the command form has 2 or more syllables (and that is usually the case) and one pronoun is added, an accent mark goes on the antepenult (because the word has now become esdrjula). If the command form has 2 or more syllables and two pronouns are added, an accent mark goes on the syllable before the antepenult (because the word has now become sobreesdrjula). (Remember that when there are both an indirect object pronoun and a direct object pronoun, the indirect always precedes the direct, and also that le and les become se in front of lo, la, los and las.)

Escribe+me = Escrbeme.

Write to me.

Escribe+me+la = Escrbemela.Write it to me.Canten+me = Cntenme.

Sing to me.

Canten+me+la = Cntenmela.Sing it to me.

Cuenta+le = Cuntale.

Tell him/her.

Cuenta+le+lo = Cuntaselo.

Tell it to him/her

If the command form has only 1 syllable and one pronoun is added, no accent mark is necessary (because the word is llana and will end in a vowel or an s). If the command form has 1 syllable and two pronouns are added, an accent mark goes on the antepenult (because the word has now become esdrjula).

Di+me = Dime.

Tell me.

Di+me+la = Dmelo.

Tell it to me.2) Vosotros affirmative commands

If the command form has 2 or more syllables (and that is usually the case) and one pronoun is added, no accent mark is needed because the resulting word is a llana and it will end in a vowel or an s. If the command form has 2 or more syllables and two pronouns are added, an accent mark goes on the antepenult (because the word has now become esdrjula).

Cantad+me = Cantadme.

Sing to me.

Cantad+nos = Cantadnos.

Sing to us.

Cantad+me+la = Cantdmela.Sing it to me.

If the command form has only 1 syllable and one pronoun is added, no accent mark is necessary (because the word is llana and will end in a vowel or an s). If the command form has 1 syllable and two pronouns are added, an accent mark goes on the antepenult (because the word has now become esdrjula).

Dad+me = Dadme.

Give me.

Dad+nos = Dadnos.

Give us.

Dad+me+lo = Ddmelo.Give it to me.

When the pronoun os is used an additional change takes place: the d of the command form is dropped:

Callad + os = callaos (not callados).

Shut up.

Levantad + os = levantaos (not levantados).

Get up.

Moved + os = moveos (not movedos).

Move!

With third-conjugation (-ir) verbs, an accent mark needs to be added over the i- of the stem in order to avoid a diphthong with the o- of the pronoun:

Divertid + os = divertos.

Have fun.

Vestid + os = vestos.

Get dressed.

Deprimid + os = deprimos.Get depressed.

Also, with the verb ir, the infinitive is preferred when os is present.

Id + os = iros (not idos or os).Go away.

3) Nosotros affirmative commandsWhen one pronoun is added, an accent mark goes on the antepenult (because the word has now become esdrjula). When two pronouns are added, an accent mark goes on the syllable before the antepenult (because the word has now become sobreesdrjula). When the indirect object pronoun is nos or se, the final s of the verb is dropped.

Demos+lo = Dmoslo.Lets give it.

Demos+nos+lo = Dmonoslo (not dmosnoslo).Lets give it to ourselves.Demos+le+lo = Dmoselo (not dmosselo).Lets give it to him/her.

Lavemos+lo = Lavmoslo.Lets wash it.

Lavemos+se+lo = Lavmoselo.Lets wash it for him/her.

Lavemos+nos = Lavmonos.Lets wash ourselves.

Lavemos+nos+las = Lavmonoslas.Lets wash them.

The alternative vamos a + infinitive command structure

Sometimes, the structure vamos a + infinitive is used instead of the imperative:

Vamos a divertirnos! o Divirtmonos!Let's have fun!

Vamos a cantar! o Cantemos!

Lets sing!

4) Negative commands for all persons

The negative commands for all persons correspond to the present subjunctive forms preceded by no or any other negative expression (nunca, jams, nada, etc.). Remember that if these negative expressions occur after the verb, the adverb no must precede the verb.

No me hables.

Dont talk to me.

No me lo digas.

Dont tell it to me.

No me mientas nunca.

Dont ever lie to me.

Nunca me mientas.

Dont ever lie to me.

No se vaya.

Dont go.

No nos enfademos.

Lets not get angry.

No os molestis.

Dont bother.

No se preocupen.

Dont you worry