Spanish commands (the imperative), explained
Spanish commands change with who you're talking to: a friend (tú), a group of friends (vosotros in Spain, ustedes in Latin America), or someone you address politely (usted, ustedes).
Positive tú commands mostly look like the él form of the present, and positive vosotros commands end in -d. Every other command, and every negative one, uses the present subjunctive.
The essentials
- Tú: habla, come, escribe, plus eight short irregulars: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven.
- Usted and ustedes use the subjunctive: hable, coma; hablen, coman.
- Negative commands use the subjunctive for everyone: no hables, no comáis, no vengan.
- Vosotros (Spain): replace the -r of the infinitive with -d: hablad, comed. Reflexive verbs drop the -d: sentaos.
- Pronouns attach to positive commands and need a written accent: dímelo, siéntese. They go before negative ones: no me lo digas.
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
A2 (the A2 course)
- Affirmative commands with tú: Tell a friend to do something: habla, come, escribe, and the eight short irregulars.
B1 (the B1 course)
- Commands with usted and ustedes: Polite instructions use the subjunctive: hable, coman, siéntese, no se preocupe.
- Negative commands (no hables) and vosotros commands: Don't do it: no hables, no digas, no vayáis. Telling a group of friends: hablad, comed, sentaos, idos.
- Commands with pronouns: dímelo, no me lo digas: Where object pronouns go in commands, how to add the accent, and vámonos, sentaos, dígamelo.
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions that explain the rule when you slip, and brought back for review on later days.
Other topics
- Ser vs estar, explained
- Por vs para, explained
- Preterite vs imperfect, explained
- The Spanish subjunctive, explained
- Gustar and verbs like it, explained
- Spanish reflexive verbs, explained
- Spanish object pronouns, explained
- Spanish future and conditional, explained
- The Spanish present tense and stem-changing verbs
- Spanish perfect tenses: he hablado, había hablado and more
- Tú vs usted (and vosotros vs ustedes), explained
- Spanish articles, gender and agreement, explained
- Spanish pronunciation and accent marks, explained