Spanish commands: how to conjugate Spanish imperatives

As you may already know if you are studying Spanish as a second language, the conjugation of verb tenses is quite complex. Each tense has its ending, which varies depending on the person and the number. However, one of the simplest ways to conjugate is imperative.

If you found our guide on how to conjugate Spanish verb tenses useful, this article will help you to complement your knowledge of the language with Spanish commands and to want to learn Spanish in Spain with professionals like don Quijote Spanish schools.

You can also read this same article in Spanish, French or Italian.

What are Spanish commands?

Spanish commands or imperative mood is used to give orders, advice, make requests or give instructions. The peculiarity of this mood, as opposed to the indicative and subjunctive moods, is that only the second person singular and plural is conjugated. That is to say, the pronouns “tú”, “vosotros” and “usted” are the only ones that are conjugated in the Spanish command.

However, in the Spanish imperative form, the subject is usually omitted since it is only used to give orders and, in most cases, it is not necessary to add it.

When forming the imperative, several factors must be considered:

• Affirmative or negative
• Formal (usted) or informal (tú or vosotros)
• Singular or plural

Spanish informal commands: affirmative and negative

Generally, the informal form of the Spanish command is usually used by close people, such as friends, family, co-workers, etc.

Affirmative Spanish commands

The affirmative form of the imperative is easy to learn, as it is almost identical to the third person singular of the present tense in Spanish. Basically, you just remove the “r” from the end of the verb and ¡listo! You have the Spanish command done with the second person singular pronoun: “tú”. On the other hand, with the plural, you must replace the “r” with a “d” at the end and you've got it!

The only exception is with verbs ending in “-ir” in the second person singular, in which case you only must change the “I” for an “e”. Here are some examples, depending on the ending of the verb.

Verbs ending in -ar:

• Habla (tú). Example: Habla más despacio (Speak more slowly)
• Hablad (vosotros). E.g. Hablad entre vosotros primero (Talk to each other first)
• Canta (tú). g. Canta tu canción favorita (Sing your favorite song)
• Cantad (vosotros). E.g. Cantad el villancico en Navidad (Sing the carol at Christmas)

Verbs ending in -er:

• Come (tú). E.g. Come más verduras (Eat more vegetables)
• Comed (vosotros). g. Comed en silencio (Eat in silence)
• Bebe (tú) E.g. Bebe más agua (Drink more water)
• Bebed (vosotros) E.g. Bebed antes de salir a correr (Drink before going for a run)

Verbs ending in -ir:

• Escribe (tú) E.g. Escribe la redacción (Write the essay)
• Escribid (vosotros) E.g. Escribid el trabajo en grupo (Write the group work)
• Conduce (tú) E.g. Conduce más despacio (Drive slower)
• Conducid (vosotros) E.g. Conducid siguiendo la línea blanca (Drive following the white line)

Most regular verbs follow this rule, but what about the imperative mood in irregular verbs? Each irregular verb follows its own form of the second person singular, here are some of the most common ones:

• Ser: Sé (tú) E.g. Sé amable con tu primo (Be nice to your cousin)
• Hacer: Haz (tú) E.g. Haz caso a la profesora (Listen to the teacher)
• Ir: Ve (tú) E.g. Ve tú solo a hacer la compra (Go by yourself to do the shopping)
• Decir: Di (tú) E.g. Di qué hiciste ayer (Say what you did yesterday)
• Salir: Sal (tú) E.g. Sal de casa con la mochila (Go out of the house with your backpack)
• Tener: Ten (tú) E.g. Ten paciencia (Be patient)
• Venir: Ven (tú) g. Ven a casa esta tarde (Come home this afternoon)
• Poner: Pon (tú) E.g. Pon la mesa (Set the table)

Negative Spanish commands

As for the negative form of the imperative, once you have learned the affirmative, it is very simple. To the affirmative form you must add the particle “no” in front of it and use the present subjunctive of the verb.

Here are some examples:

• No hables (tú) E.g. No hables tan alto (Don't talk so loud)
• No habléis (vosotros) E.g. No habléis en el teatro (Don't talk at the theater)
• No cantes (tú) E.g. No cantes por la mañana (n't sing in the morning)
• No cantéis (vosotros) E.g. No cantéis durante la visita al museo (Don't sing during a visit to the museum)
• No comas (tú) E.g. No comas a deshoras (Don't eat at the wrong time)
• No comáis (vosotros) E.g. No comáis nada antes de cenar (Don't eat anything before dinner)
• No bebas (tú) E.g. No bebas alcohol entre semana (Don't drink alcohol during the week)
• No bebáis (vosotros) E.g. No bebáis refrescos todos los días (Don't drink soft drinks every day)
• No escribas (tú) E.g. No escribas con el boli rojo (Don't write with a red pen)
• No escribáis (vosotros) E.g. No escribáis en las paredes (Don't write on the walls)

Spanish formal commands: affirmative and negative

On the other hand, the Spanish formal command is the one used to speak in a more polite way with people you don't know or respect. For this form, the third person of the present subjunctive is used for both the affirmative and negative forms with the pronoun “usted”.

Here are examples with the verbs above:

• Hable (usted) E.g. Hable más alto (Speak up)
• Cante (usted) E.g. Cante por la mañana (Sing in the morning)
• Coma (usted) E.g. Coma esta manzana (Eat this apple)
• Beba (usted) E.g. Beba agua en verano (Drink water in the summer)
• Escriba (usted) E.g. Escriba al presidente (Write to the president)
• No sea (usted) E.g. No sea tan duro consigo mismo (Don't be so hard on yourself)
• No haga (usted) E.g. No haga cometarios inapropiados (Don't make inappropriate comments)

These are just a few conjugations with common Spanish verbs, but there are many more, regular and irregular, that you can start using the Spanish commands. Do you have any doubts? Sign up for an intensive Spanish course with don Quijote and get the most out of the language.