Imperative or Command Form - Imperativo

18. Imperative or Command Form (English)

The imperative or command form only exists in the tú, usted, ustedes, and nosotros forms of the verbs.

This lesson includes information on:

1. Imperative or Command Formation Affirmative
2. Imperative or Command Formation Negative
3. Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns with Imperatives
4. Irregular Imperative or Command Verbs
5. Related Vocabulary

1. Imperative or Command Formation Affirmative

The imperative or command form is used to express:

1. A command or an order. For example: Coma usted los vegetales. ({You (formal)} Eat the vegetables.) Mira tú. ({You (informal)} Look.)

2. To beg. For example, Quiero que usted hable conmigo. (I want you to speak to me.)

3. To give advice or suggestions. For example, Invitemos a Jorge a la fiesta. (Let’s invite Jorge to the party.)

• Direct commands in the tú form (familiar) are formed dropping the –s from the tú form in the present tense. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Tú habla	You (informal) speak
Comer	To eat	Tú come	You (informal) eat
Vivir	To live	Tú vive	You (informal) live
Pensar	To think	Tú piensa	You (informal) think
Volver	To return	Tú vuelve	You (informal) come back
Dormir	To sleep	Tú duerme	You (informal) sleep

• Direct commands in the usted form (2nd person formal) are formed by dropping the –o in the yo (1st person singular) form of the present tense and adding the usted ending of the present subjunctive. In other words, for the verbs ending in –ar, drop the _ar and add “e”; and from the verbs ending in _er or –ir, drop these endings and add “a”. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Usted hable	You (formal) speak
Comer	To eat	Usted coma	You (formal) eat
Vivir	To live	Usted viva	You (formal) live

• Direct commands in the ustedes form (2nd person plural) are formed by dropping the –o in the yo (1st person singular) form of the present tense and adding the ustedes ending of the present subjunctive. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Ustedes hablen	You (plural) speak
Comer	To eat	Ustedes coman	You (plural) eat
Vivir	To live	Ustedes vivan	You (plural) live

• Nosotros commands are not direct commands but suggestions. Suggestions in the nosotros form (1st person plural) are formed by using the present subjunctive form of nosotros. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Nosotros hablemos	Let's speak
Comer	To eat	Nosotros comamos	Let's eat
Vivir	To live	Nosotros vivamos	Let's live

2. Imperative or Command Formation Negative

The negative imperative or command form is used to express:

1. A command or an order. For example: No coma los vegetales. ({You (formal)} Don’t eat the vegetables.) No mires. ({You (informal)} Don’t look.)

2. To beg. For example, Quiero que usted no hable conmigo. (I want you to not speak to me.)

3. To give advice or suggestions. For example, No invitemos a Jorge a la fiesta. (Let’s not invite Jorge to the party.)

• Negative direct commands in the tú form (familiar) are formed by using the present subjunctive form of tú. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	No hables	You (informal) don't speak
Comer	To eat	No comas	You (informal) don't eat
Vivir	To live	No vivas	You (informal) don't live

• Negative direct commands in the usted form (2nd person formal) are formed by dropping the –o in the yo (1st person singular) form of the present tense and adding the usted ending of the present subjunctive. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	No hable	You (formal) don't speak
Comer	To eat	No coma	You (formal) don't eat
Vivir	To live	No viva	You (formal) don't live

• Negative direct commands in the ustedes form (2nd person plural) are formed by dropping the –o in the yo (1st person singular) form of the present tense and adding the ustedes ending of the present subjunctive. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Ustedes no hablen	You (plural) don't speak
Comer	To eat	Ustedes no coman	You (plural) don't eat
Vivir	To live	Ustedes no vivan	You (plural) don't live

• Negative suggestion commands in the nosotros form (1st person plural) are formed by using the present subjunctive form of nosotros. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Nosotros no hablemos	Let's not speak
Comer	To eat	Nosotros no comamos	Let's not eat
Vivir	To live	Nosotros no vivamos	Let's not live

3. Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns with Imperatives

The imperative or command form is used to express:

1. A command or an order. For example, Cómalos. ({You (formal)} Eat them.)

2. To give direct orders. For example, Mírala. ({You (informal)} Look at it.)

3. To beg. For example, Quiero que usted me lo dé. (I want you to give it to me.)

4. To give advice. For example, Invitémosla a la fiesta. (Let’s invite her to the party.)

• Affirmative direct commands with direct and indirect object pronouns attach the pronouns to the end of the commands and an accent is added to the command to maintain proper pronunciation. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Hablar	To speak	Hábleme	You (informal) speak to me
Comer	To eat	Cómanla	You (plural) eat it
Vivir	To live	Vivámoslo	Let's live it

The indirect object pronoun always goes before the direct object pronoun. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Explicar	To explain	Explícamelo	You (informal) explain it to me
Comer	To eat	Cómetelo	You (informal) eat it yourself
Vivir	To live	Escríbeselo	You (informal) write it for him/her

• Negative Direct Commands with direct and indirect object pronouns are formed by having the pronouns come before the command but after the word no. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Explicar	To explain	No me lo expliques	You (informal) don't explain it to me
Comer	To eat	No la coman	You (plural) don't eat it
Vivir	To live	No lo escribamos	Let's not write it

• In soft commands (beg) or desire statements, the pronouns come before the conjugated command verb. The second clause of the sentence is always conjugated in the subjunctive form. For example:

Spanish	English	Spanish Conjugation	English Conjugation
Explicar	To explain	Quiero que me lo expliques	I want you (informal) to explain it to me
Comer	To eat	Espero que la coman	I wish that you (plural) eat it
Vivir	To live	Sugiero que lo escribamos	I suggest that we write it

4. Irregular Imperative or Command Verbs

Irregular imperative verbs exist in the forms of tú, usted, ustedes and nosotros.

• The irregular imperative verbs in the tú form (familiar) are:

Spanish	English	Spanish Affirmative	Spanish Negative
Decir	To tell	Di	No digas
Hacer	To do, make	Haz	No hagas
Ir	To go	Ve	No vayas
Ser