Spanish imperative

The Imperative mood in Spanish (el modo imperativo) is used to express orders, commands and instructions directly addressed to one or more people.

The Spanish imperative is only used with the second person pronoun (“you”), which can be singular or plural. The singular has an informal and a formal form: tú and usted respectively. The plural has two forms: vosotros, used in Spain, and ustedes in Latin America.

Pronouns are generally omitted in the imperative. Nevertheless, they are of great importance, since they determine the conjugation.

Quick tip: The imperative is not a verb tense but a mood. This means that it does not express present, past or future time. It expresses the speaker’s attitude, and has only one form. The other moods in Spanish are the subjunctive and indicative moods.

When to use the imperative in Spanish

The Spanish imperative is used for:

• Giving orders and commands.

Escucha atentamente.
Listen attentively.

• Making requests.

Pásame la sal, por favor.
Pass me the salt, please.

• Making suggestions and giving advice.

Sostenga al bebé con cuidado.
Hold the baby carefully.

• Making proposals.

Ven conmigo a la fiesta.
Come to the party with me.

• Begging.

¡Vete, por favor!
Go away, please!

To soften the overly direct tone of the imperative, the words por favor (please) are often used.

How to conjugate the imperative in Spanish

Unlike in English, the conjugation of the Spanish imperative changes with the pronoun it addresses, which can be:

Singular pronoun “you”	Plural pronoun “you”
tú, vos (informal “you”)	vosotros (plural “you” used in Spain)
usted (formal “you”)	ustedes (plural “you” used in Latin America)

For negative commands, the subjunctive mood is used preceded by the word no.

According to the Real Academia Española, nosotros (“we”) commands are not encompassed within the imperative mood, since the verb is conjugated in the subjunctive:
Veamos qué pasa.
Let’s see what happens.

Regular verbs

All regular verbs in Spanish follow a common conjugation pattern to form the imperative:

Affirmative commands

Pronoun	Imperative of verbs ending in -ar (hablar)	Imperative of verbs ending in -er (comer)	Imperative of verbs ending in -ir (vivir)
tú	habla	come	vive
usted	hable	coma	viva
vosotros	hablad	comed	vivid
ustedes	hablen	coman	vivan
vos	hablá	comé	viví

Negative commands

Pronoun	Imperative of verbs ending in -ar (hablar)	Imperative of verbs ending in -er (comer)	Imperative of verbs ending in -ir (vivir)
tú/em>	no hables	no comas	no vivas
usted	no hable	no coma	no viva
vosotros	no habléis	no comáis	no viváis
ustedes	no hablen	no coman	no vivan
vos	no hables	no comas	no vivas

Tú commands: affirmative form

Affirmative tú commands are used in informal and everyday contexts. They are not usually found in more formal contexts when social distance is required.

The conjugation of affirmative tú commands is the same as for the third person singular (él, ella) of the present indicative mood.

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
habla ama canta	come teme aprende	vive parte escribe

Habla más fuerte, por favor.
Speak louder, please.

Come más lentamente.
Eat more slowly.

Vive con alegría.
Live with joy.

Quick tip: All regular verbs drop the final -r to form the imperative. Verbs ending in -ir change the i to e.

Tú commands: negative form

Negative tú commands are used in informal contexts to tell someone not to do something.

Negative tú commands use the tú form of the present subjunctive.

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
no hables no ames no cantes	no comas no temas no aprendas	no vivas no partas no escribas

No cierres la puerta con llave.
Don’t lock the door.

No corras tan rápido.
Don’t run so fast.

No temas; estás a salvo.
Don’t fear; you are safe.

Quick tip: To form negative tú commands, verbs ending in -ar change to -es. Verbs ending in -er and -ir change to -as.

Usted commands: affirmative and negative forms

Usted commands are used to give orders and instructions in more formal and polite contexts, especially when addressing older people.

Usted imperative has the same conjugation as the third person singular (él, ella) of the present subjunctive mood.

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
hable ame cante	coma tema aprenda	viva parta escriba
no hable no ame no cante	no coma no tema no aprenda	no viva no parta no escriba

Recuerde traer su pasaporte.
Remember to bring your passport.

Comprenda que esto es lo mejor para usted.
Understand this is the best for you.

No sonría cuando saque la foto.
Don’t smile while I take the photo.

Quick tip: Affirmative and negative usted commands have the same form. Verbs ending in -ar change the -ar to -e. Verbs ending in -er and -ir change to -a.

Vosotros commands: affirmative form

Vosotros/as imperative addresses a group of people directly. The vosotros pronoun is used in Spain, with vosotras being the feminine pronoun.

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
hablad amad cantad	comed temed aprended	vivid partid escribid

Tocad la puerta antes de entrar.
Knock the door before you enter.

Resolved el problema lo más pronto posible.
Solve the problem as soon as possible.

Partid sin prisa.
Leave with no hurry.

Quick tip: To form affirmative vosotros commands, the final -r of the infinitive verb is dropped and replaced with a -d.

Vosotros commands: negative form

Negative vosotros commands are used to tell two or more people not to do something.

Negative vosotros commands use the vosotros form of the present subjunctive mood.

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
no habléis no améis no cantéis	no comáis no temáis no aprendáis	no viváis no partáis no escribáis

No cerréis la ventana.
Don’t close the window.

No volváis demasiado tarde.
Don’t come back too late.

No abráis vuestros libros todavía.
Don’t open your books yet.

Quick tip: Verbs ending in -ar change to -éis. Verbs ending in -er and -ir change to -áis.

Ustedes commands: affirmative and negative forms

The second person plural pronoun ustedes is used in Latin America to address a group regardless of sex.

Ustedes imperative has the same conjugation as the second and third person plural (vosotros, ellos) of the present subjunctive mood.

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
hablen amen canten	coman teman aprenda	vivan partan escriban
no hablen no amen no canten	no coman no teman no aprendan	no vivan no partan no escriban

Miren por la ventana.
Look out of the window.

No coman rápido.
Don’t eat quickly.

Discutan el tema con respeto.
Discuss the topic with respect.

Quick tip: Affirmative and negative commands have the same conjugation.

Vos commands: affirmative and negative forms

The singular pronoun vos is used instead of tú in regions across South American countries, particularly in Argentina and Paraguay.

Affirmative vos commands are formed following the vosotros imperative. The final -d is dropped and the last vowel receives an acute accent (´):

First conjugation (verbs ending in -ar)	Second conjugation (verbs ending in -er)	Third conjugation (verbs ending in -ir)
hablá amá cantá	comé temé aprendé	viví partí escribí

Negative vos commands use the tú form of the present subjunctive.

¡Cantá conmigo!
Sing with me!

Viví tu propia vida.
Live your own life.

No abras la puerta del horno aún.
Don’t open the oven door yet.

Irregular verbs

Unlike regular verbs, irregular Spanish verbs do not follow any verb conjugation pattern. The imperative forms of irregular verbs are:

	Tú imperative	Usted imperative	Vosotros/as imperative	Ustedes imperative	Vos imperative
ir	ve	vaya	id	vayan	andá
venir	ven	venga	venid	vengan	vení
salir	sal	salga	salid	salgan	salí
decir	di	diga	decid	digan	decí
ser	sé	sea	sed	sean	sé
hacer	haz	haga	haced	hagan	hacé
tener	ten	tenga	tened	tengan	tené
poner	pon	ponga	poned	pongan	poné

Sal de aquí ahora mismo.
Leave this place right now.

Venid conmigo.
Come with me.

Haz el ejercicio nuevamente.
Do the exercise again.

Tenga cuidado.
Be careful.

Pon tu ropa en el ropero.
Put your clothes in the wardrobe.

Sed pacientes.
Be patient.

Ve con tu madre.
Go with your mother.

Digan la verdad.
Tell the truth.

Imperative with pronouns

Verbs requiring pronouns may be reflexive verbs (i.e., verbs in which the action falls back on the subject), or transitive verbs (i.e., verbs that require an object). When these verbs are used in the imperative mood, pronouns are placed immediately after the verb forming one word.

Examples of the imperative with reflexive pronouns (te, se, os) are:

Párate.
Stand up. (tú-you)

Apresúrese.
Hurry up. (usted-you)

Acuéstense.
Lie down. (ustedes)

For the second person plural vosotros/as, the final -d of the imperative is dropped before adding the reflexive pronoun:
Quedaos aquí.
Stay here. (not: quedados)

Examples of the imperative with transitive verbs requiring a direct object pronoun (me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las) are:

Dilo.
Say it.

Sosténla.
Hold her.

Míralo.
Look at it.

Examples of the imperative with transitive verbs requiring both direct and indirect pronouns (me, te, le, nos, os, les) are:

Dámelo.
Give it to me.

Cuéntaselo.
Tell it to them.

Envíaselos.
Send it to them.

When both direct and indirect objects appear together, the indirect pronoun comes first.

For negative commands, the word no is followed by the reflexive pronoun, with the verb conjugated in the subjunctive mood, like this: no + pronoun + subjunctive:

No te levantes de la silla.
Don’t stand up.

No os quedéis ahí parados.
Don’t stand doing nothing.

No te lo pierdas.
Don’t miss it.

Infinitive commands

Infinitive commands are frequently used in Spanish to give orders to do or not to do something. They usually appear in written signs and notices (in the street and in public places, for example) as well as in oral language when giving instructions. The bare infinitive is used rather than a conjugated verb:

Batir las claras junto con la manteca.
Whisk the whites with the butter.

No fumar.
No smoking.

No pisar el césped.
Do not walk on the grass.

For negative commands, the word prohibido is usually used instead of the word no:
Prohibido fumar.

Indirect commands

Indirect commands are used in everyday contexts to express wishes for which the imperative would otherwise sound too blunt and odd. They start with the word que (equivalent to may for wishes), and the verb is conjugated in the subjunctive mood:

Que tengas un lindo día.
Have a nice day.

Que te recuperes pronto.
May you recover soon.

Que disfrute de su viaje.
Have a nice trip.

References

• Real Academia Española, Nueva gramática de la lengua española, s.v. “Los enunciados imperativos (I). Propiedades formales del imperativo. Pronombres átonos y negación,” accessed June 11, 2024, https://www.rae.es/
• Real Academia Española, Nueva gramática básica de la lengua española, s.v. “El imperativo. propiedades formales,” accesses June 11, 2024, https://www.rae.es/

Practice: Spanish imperative

Choose the correct option: