1. El imperativo
Commands in Spanish

2. Tú commands
In English we use a lot of commands. In Spanish they do as well.
Where do we hear a lot of commands in English
Our parents or other authority figures say a lot of commands

3. La formación de los mandatos
How do we form a tú command?
Conjugate the verb into the tú form and drop the –s from its ending.
*Looks like the (él, ella form)
For example:
Tú habla These are commands. They look
Tú corre like the he/she/ it form in the
Tú escribe positive context.

4. Irregular verbs in tú positivo
Like any verb conjugation there are always exceptions to the rules. Here are the irregulars what you will just have to memorize.
decir (to say), di
hacer (to make or do), haz
ir (to go), ve
poner (to put), pon
salir (to leave), sal
ser (to be), sé
tener (to have), ten
venir (to come), ven

5. Reflexive postitive tú commands
When you have a reflexive verb in the positive way of talking in command format you attach the ending to the conjugated verb.(conjugate like a normal command)
Examples:
Duchate (ducharse)
Levantate (levantarse)
Sientate (sentarse)

6. Práctica con el positivo
Conjugate the following verbs into tú postive commands.
Cocinar Escribir
Escuchar Correr
Ir decir
Hacer Poner
Venir Tener
Llamarse levantarse

7. Negative commands
For negative commands conjugate the verb normally into the tú form (including the –s), put a no in front of the verb, Change the ending to the opposite ending.
If the verb ends in an –ar use –er/-ir endings
If the verb ends in –er/-ir use –ar endings.

8. Ejemplos: Escribir Comer Cantar Negative command  no escribas
Negative command no comas
Cantar
Negative command  no cantes

9. Irregular negative tú commands
The irregular verbs follow a pattern mainly. You use the I form of the verb in present tense and change the ending to be the opposite ending
Ejemplos:
Tener tengo  no tengas
Decir digono digas
Venirvengo no vengas
Poner pongo  no pongas
Salir salgo  no salgas
Hacerhago no hagas

10. Complete irregulars
There are some you will just have to remember because they don’t follow the same pattern. Ir
Present tense voy
Negative command no vayas
Saber
Present tense sé
Negative command no sepas
Ser
Present tense soy
Negative command no seas

11. Reflexive negative verbs
Conjugate the same as a regular negative verb (opposite ending) and put the pronoun in front of the verb.
Example:
Levantarse
No te levantes
Dormirse
No te duermas

12. Practice Negative commands No correr No beber No tener No ser
No hablar
No cocinar
No escribir
No nadar
No ir
No hacer
No saber

13. -car, -gar, -zar verbs C qu G gu Zc
Verbs that end in –car, -gar, -zar have an orthographic change (spelling change) sometimes.
Practicar
tocar
Jugar
Pagar
Empezar
Almorzar
C qu
G gu
Zc
* Only when the next letter is an “e”

14. Write the following in negative tú commands
Practicar
tocar
Jugar
Pagar
Empezar
Almorzar
No practiques
No toques
No juegues
No pagues
No empieces
No almuerces

15. Indirect and direct object pronouns
Affirmative commands with object pronouns: with an affirmative command, the object pronoun(s) will be attached directly to the end of the verb in its imperative form.
¡estúdialo!
Hazme un favor
Note that the original stress will be retained. In spanish words that end with a vowel or “n”, or “s”, the natural stress will fall on the next to last syllable . When the addition of an object pronoun (or pronouns) affects the original stress you will add an accent mark.
Cómelo
dígame

16. Indirect and direct object pronouns continued
When 2 object pronouns are involved remember RID
Reflexive
Indirect
Direct
In other words a reflexive pronoun will precede an indirect or direct pronoun, and an indirect pronoun will precede a direct pronoun. If both indirect and direct pronouns begin with the letter “l” the indirect will change to “se”
Dímelo = tell it to me
Cómpratelo = buy it for yourself
Dáselo = Give it to him

17. Indirect and direct object pronouns Negatives
Negative commands with object pronouns: With a negative command, the object pronoun(s) will precede the verb in its imperative form. The object pronoun will be independent of the verb. When there are 2 object pronouns, The RID rule applies.
No me mires =don’t look at me
No lo hagas= don’t do it
No se lo digas = don’t tell it to him
No los compres = don’t buy them

18. Nosotros Commands We commands in English mean “let’s”
How do we form the commands? It’s very simple… nosotros form in present tense but with the opposite endings
Ejemplos:
hablar  hablemos
Comer comamos

19. Nosotros commands Reflexive verbs
Just like with tú commands we attach the pronoun at the end of the verb.
Levantarse levantemos levantémonos
Despertarse despertemos despertémonos
* notice that there are accent marks when you add the “nos” to the verb.

20. Stem changing verbs Stem changing (-ar/-er) verbs do not change
For example
Cerramos  lets close the door
Stem changing ir verbs change the e-i or o-u
No durmamos  lets not sleep
Prefiramos lets prefer (preferir)

21. Practice Make the following verbs into nosotros commands. Cantar
Escribir
Dormirse
Gritar
Irse
Nadar

22. Negative nosotros commands
Negative commands also use the opposite endings.
The “no” is still in front of the verb and the verb is in the nosotros form then change the ending to be its opposite.
Example: comer
No comer no comamos
What does this mean for the irregulars?

23. Irregular nosotros commands
There are only a few irregulars for this conjugation.
Infinitive positive negative
Ir vamos no vayamos
Ser seamos no seamos
Saber sepamos no sepamos

24. More irregulars
The other irregulars are the same as the ones from the negative tú commands. Use the present tense yo form of the irregulars and add the opposite endings
decir (to say), digamos
hacer (to make or do), hagamos
poner (to put), pongamos
salir (to leave), salgamos
tener (to have), tengamos
venir (to come), vengamos

25. Reflexive negative commands
Just like with tu commands in the negative reflexive the no and the pronoun come before the verb.
* still using opposite ending because it is negative.
Ejemplos
levantarse_ no nos levantemos.

26. Practiquemos Write the following in Spanish Let’s practice (practicar)
Let’s wake up (despertarse)
Let’s buy (comprar)
Let’s not play (no jugar)
Let’s go (irse)
Let’s stand up (levantarse)
Let’s not start (no empezar)
Let’s drive (manejar)
Let’s not sleep. (no dormirse)

27. Indirect and direct object pronouns
(me, te, lo, la, nos, los, las) D.O
(me, te, le, nos, les) I.O
They are attached to the end of a positive command and placed before a negative command.
For example: Let’s buy them
Comprémoslos
No los compremos
RID rule still applies if there are more than one pronoun

28. Ustedes Commands
Use the ustedes form from the present tense to make the commands and add the opposite endings.
Hablar  hablen
Vivir  vivan
Beber  beban

29. Irregular uds commands
Only if the yo form is irregular in the present tense
Ponerpongan
Decir digan

30. Other irregulars
Ir vayan
Ser sean
Dar den
Ver vean
Saber sepan

31. IO and DO pronouns
In the positive way of talking we add them onto the end of the verb. (attached)
Denmelo
Abranlas
Comprenlos

32. Ustedes Commands Reflexive verbs
Use the reflextive pronoun “se” to signify that it is the uds form.
You form the verb by conjugating the verb into the uds form and then add the se on the end of the verb like the tú and nosotros form.
Dormirse  duermanse
Levantarse  levantense

33. Negative Ustedes Commands
In the negative you change the endings like what we have been doing.
Tener
No tengan
Comer
No coman

34. Reflexive negative commands
Again like we already know the negative command gets the opposite ending and the pronoun goes in front of the verb along with a no.
No se duerman
No se duchen
No se cepillen

35. Usted Commands
For regular verbs,to form an affirmative or a negative command do the following:
1. take the present tense yo form
2. drop the –o ending (or oy ending
3. for –ar verbs add an “e” for er/ir verbs add an “a” don’t forget the spelling change for –car –gar- and –zar
Irregulars:
ir  vaya
Saber  sepa
Sersea

36. Practica Usted Commands
Fly__________________________
Return_________________________
Eat____________________________
Give___________________________
Give it to me_____________________________
Don’t wait for us ___________________________
Sit down __________________________
Put it there __________________________
Know it____________________________
Go away___________________________