Spanish commands are crafted using the imperative mood, which serves as a verb conjugation for issuing direct orders, instructions, advice, or requests to someone. These commands play a pivotal role in various everyday interactions. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll grasp the intricacies of forming and employing the imperative mood in Spanish. Here’s a glimpse of what we’ll delve into:

Here’s a reassuring thought: delving into new conjugations might feel daunting at first. However, the good news is that you’re already familiar with certain rules that can be applied to form the imperative mood. While there may be some endings that are unfamiliar to you at the moment, rest assured that you’ll grasp them swiftly and integrate them into your Spanish proficiency as you progress.

Forming Commands in Spanish

Spanish commands fall into two categories, affirmative and negative:

• Affirmative commands: These instruct someone to do something.
• Negative commands: These urge someone not to do something.

The imperative mood in Spanish is limited to four forms, corresponding to specific subjects:

• Tú (informal singular)
• Usted (formal singular)
• Vosotros (informal plural)
• Ustedes (formal plural)

When issuing commands in Spanish, direct address is essential. Thus, imperative conjugations are only possible with the listed subject pronouns, ensuring formality, informality, and agreement in number (plural or singular form).

Below, you’ll discover the endings and conjugation rules necessary to construct the imperative in Spanish.

Kindly observe: The imperative isn’t considered a Spanish tense but rather a mood, which reflects the manner in which an action is expressed. Spanish encompasses three moods: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative.

Forming Affirmative Commands in Spanish

Affirmative commands, also referred to as positive commands, are employed to instruct someone to perform an action. Below is a table outlining the endings for affirmative commands in Spanish. Note that you’ll utilize the same endings for both -er and -ir verbs.

Kindly observe: To conjugate vosotros, replace the ‘r‘ of the infinitive form with a ‘d‘. For instance, ‘hablar’ would become ‘hablad’.

The choice between formal and informal commands in Spanish corresponds to the selection of formal and informal ‘you’. Utilize informal Spanish commands (tú) when addressing friends, relatives, or individuals of similar age. Employ formal affirmative commands to convey deference and respect.

Informal command:

¡Abre la puerta, Clara!
Clara, open the door!

Formal command:

Señora, abra la puerta, por favor.
Ma’am, open the door, please.

Kindly observe: Notice that in the table above, the affirmative endings for ‘tú’ and ‘usted’ swap the present endings. In other words, in the imperative, the present endings for -AR verbs will be used for -ER/-IR verbs, and vice versa.

If you need to instruct a group of people rather than addressing a single individual, you’ll use plural commands such as ‘ustedes’ and ‘vosotros’.

Prestad atención, chicos.
Pay attention, guys.

Apaguen las luces, por favor.
Turn the lights off, please.

Kindly observe: While the imperative typically consists of only four accepted forms, you may encounter sentences with nosotros commands, which express what we “must” or “should” do. These are formed using the present subjunctive form of ‘nosotros’. The imperative of ‘nosotros’ essentially means “let’s [do something]”, although it’s not as common as the other imperative forms.

Hablemos con ella.
Let’s talk with her. 

Corramos más tarde, por favor.
Let’s run later, please.

Forming Negative commands in Spanish

The Spanish negative imperative is employed to instruct someone not to do something. To achieve this, you simply precede the conjugated verb with “no”. The endings to form the negative imperative are as follows:

Here are some examples illustrating the use of the negative imperative. While “no” is the most common negative word employed in commands, other negative words like “nunca” and “jamás” can also be used.

[Negative word] + [negative imperative]

No le digas nada a tu hermana.
Don’t say anything to your sister.

No comáis comida chatarra.
Don’t eat junk food.

Nunca hablen con extraños.
Never speak with strangers.

No se preocupe, su orden ya casi está lista.
Don’t worry, your order is almost ready.

Kindly observe: The endings for the negative imperative are identical to the endings used for conjugating the present subjunctive.

Irregular Commands in Spanish

Irregular imperatives for informal affirmative commands (tú) encompass various verbs, such as:

• Venir – Ven
• Decir – Di 
• Salir – Sal
• Hacer – Haz
• Tener – Ten 
• Venir – Ven
• Poner – Pon
• Saber/Ser – Sé
• Ir – Ve

Some time back, we came across a mnemonic device that can aid in recalling most of these irregular imperatives:

Irregular imperatives for “usted” and “ustedes” follow a distinct pattern. In the present tense, certain verbs exhibit irregularities only in the first person (yo). These irregularities extend to the imperative forms of “ustedes” and “usted“.

In essence, the subject pronouns “usted” and “ustedes” inherit the irregular stems from the present tense form of “yo“. Consider these examples: “Yo pongo“, “yo tengo“, and “yo digo” become:

Pongan eso en su lugar.
Put that back in its place.

Tenga sus papeles listos.
Have your papers ready.

No diga eso.
Do not say that.

The irregular patterns for “usted” and “ustedes” mentioned earlier do not extend to “ser” and “ir“:

Kindly observe: Recall that to create the negative imperative for ‘tú’, you merely need to append an ‘s’ to the endings for ‘usted’.

¡No seas grosero!
Don’t be rude!

Oye, no vayas al centro, está llenísimo.
Don’t go downtown; it’s crowded.

Kindly observe: As you might have observed, the majority of imperative conjugations are derived from the present tense. Consequently, stem-changing verbs in the present tense will exhibit the same spelling alterations in the imperative. Consider these examples with “dormir” and “cerrar“.

Duérmete, por favor.
Go to sleep, please.

No cierren la puerta.
Don’t close the door.

Attaching Pronouns to Spanish Commands

When issuing commands in Spanish, specific verbs necessitate the inclusion of direct object or reflexive pronouns. Nevertheless, adherence to certain placement rules is essential.

For affirmative commands in Spanish, the pronoun must be attached to the verb:

Bañáte.
Shower.

Ciérralas, por favor.
Close them, please.

Díganos en qué podemos ayudarle.
Tell us how we can help you.

When employing both direct and indirect object pronouns, you’ll still affix the pronouns to the verb, but you’ll follow this order:

[Imperative verb] + [indirect object pronoun] + [direct object pronoun]

Comételas.
Eat them.

Dáselo.
Give them to him.

In contrast, negative commands have the pronouns positioned before the conjugated verb:

[No] + [pronoun] + [imperative verb]

No te las comas.
Don’t eat them.

No la abras.
Don’t open it.

Rules for Accent Marks in Spanish Commands

You might have observed that most imperative verbs with a pronoun attached have an accent mark. When the stressed syllable falls on the third or fourth syllable from the end, we add a written accent.

The following graphic illustrates these accent rules:

Commands with fewer than two syllables do not require an accent mark:

Dame otra papa.
Give me another chip.

Kindly observe: “Dé” is the only one-syllable command with an accent mark. This exception helps distinguish the command from the preposition “de.”

How and When to Utilize the Imperative Mood in Spanish

The imperative mood in Spanish serves various purposes:

• Give direct orders and instructions

Lea las instrucciones con cuidado.
Read the instructions carefully.

Dele estas formas a mi compañera.
Give these forms to my colleague.

• Make suggestions or requests

Perdóname, por favor.
Forgive me, please.

Abran las ventanas si tienen calor.
Open the windows if you’re warm.

• Give advice 

Mejor no le digas nada.
You better not say anything.

Llega cinco minutos antes.
Arrive five minutes early.

With these functions in mind, you might employ the imperative in Spanish to issue instructions, as seen in user manuals, recipes, emails, or when directing someone to perform a task.

Kindly observe: Spanish infinitives are also utilized to issue commands or instructions without targeting a specific individual. These instructions are commonly found on signs in libraries and buildings. For instance, “no fumar” (no smoking), “no correr” (no running), etc.

Bonus: 8 Tips for Conjugating Spanish Imperatives

If you find yourself grappling with additional endings, here are some conjugation tips to simplify the formation of Spanish commands.

Affirmative commands

1. Affirmative commands with ‘vosotros’ are formed by replacing the ‘r’ of the infinitive verb with ‘d’.

Niños, id con su papá.
Kids, go with your dad.

¡Empezad! tenéis treinta minutos.
Start, you have thirty minutes.

2. Informal commands (tú) are heavily based on the present tense form of ‘tú’. Delete the ‘s’ from the present tense conjugation to form the imperative. For example, tú corres becomes: 

Corre más rápido.
Run faster.

3. Formal commands in Spanish (usted)use the third-person singular form of the present subjunctive. Your wish is my command is a cool and easy phrase you can use to remember that the subjunctive and imperative share some similarities. Follow these steps if you haven’t learned the subjunctive conjugation:
   • Take the conjugation for ‘yo’ in the present tense. 
   • For -AR verbs, replace the present ending (‘o’) with the imperative ending ‘e’. 
   • For -ER and -IR verbs, replace the present ending with the imperative ending ‘a’. 

Pase, por favor.
Come in, please.

Escriba su nombre.
Write your name.

4. Plural commands with ustedes are also heavily based on the present tense. To form the imperative, we’ll take the present endings and swap them. In other words, the present endings for -AR verbs will be used for -ER/-IR verbs, and vice versa. 

Ustedes comen and ustedes cantan become:

Coman verdura.
Eat vegetables.

Canten más alto.
Sing lauder.

5. Since the imperative takes after the present tense, the imperative forms reflect stem changes. 

Siéntese, por favor.
Sit, please.

Lleguen temprano, por favor.
Arrive early, please.

Negative commands

5. Usted and ustedes use the same endings as the Spanish affirmative imperative.

Tomen asiento.
Have a seat.

No tomen más coca.
Don’t drink more coke.

7. To form negative informal commands (tú,) add an ‘s’ to the endings for ‘usted’. 

Usted negative command:

No abra la puerta.
Don’t open the door.

Tú negative command:

No abras la ventana.
Don’t open the window.

8. With negative commands for ‘vosotros’ we swap the present tense endings. In other words, the -ER endings for the present tense will be used for -AR verbs in the imperative form and vice versa. So, vosotros habláis and vosotros bebéis become: 

No habléis en clase.
Don’t talk in class.

No bebáis eso.
Don’t drink that.

Essential Points

Key Points to Remember about the Spanish Imperative:

• It’s used for giving commands, instructions, advice, suggestions, and requests.
• Four subject pronouns are used with the imperative: tú, usted, vosotros, and ustedes.
• Affirmative commands indicate what to do, while negative commands specify what not to do.
• The endings for -ER and -IR verbs in the imperative are the same.
• Direct, indirect, and reflexive pronouns are attached to the verb in affirmative commands.
• Commands with more than two syllables require an accent on the stressed vowel.
• Infinitives are employed for commands on written signs.