Download Formal Commands!

LOS MANDATOS (Commands)
Formal Commands!
Ten-Hut!
In this presentation,
you will learn about
making commands
in Spanish.
Commands in English…
… are pretty easy. You
just use a base verb
form (without a subject,
since it’s always “you”)
to tell people what they
should do:
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



Stand up!
Sit down!
Do your homework!
Take out the garbage!
Be quiet!
Commands in English…
… and what they
shouldn’t do:



Don’t write in your
books!
Don’t speak English
in Spanish class!
Don’t be silly!
Commands in Spanish…
… are little more complicated
because we have so many
ways of saying “you”:
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Tú: informal, singular
Vosotros: informal, plural
Ud.: formal, singular
Uds.: formal, plural
However, we will concentrate
on the formal commands
only. (for Ud. and Uds.)
So… we will have 2 forms
only: singular and plural!
Let’s look at a few examples!
Hable despacio, por favor.
¡Repita, por favor.!
Siéntese Ud. aquí.
Entreguen Uds. la tarea.
Hagan el ejercicio B.
No hagan el ejercicio A.
¡No se levante Ud.!
¡No corran en la clase!
FORMING SINGULAR UD.
COMMANDS
STEP 1: Go to the yo
STEP 2: Drop the “o”
STEP 3: Add the opposite
ending
Hable despacio, por favor.
The speaker is talking to one
person (Ud.)
Can you figure out how we got the
form “hable”?
Go to the “yo” form of the present:
HABLO
Drop the –o: HABLAdd the opposite ending (“Hablar”
is an –AR verb, so add –E to form
the command) HABLE
Repita, por favor.
The speaker is talking to one
person (Ud.)
Can you figure out how we got
the form “repita”?
Go to the “yo” form of the
present: REPITO
Drop the –o: REPITAdd the opposite ending
(“Repetir” is an –IR verb, so add
–A to form the command)
REPITA
Another way to think about
it…
Think of the verb adding
the “opposite vowel”:
AR verbs add an –E.
ER & IR verbs add an –A.
Let’s try a couple!
Comer: ¡______ Ud.!
¡Coma Ud.!
Escribir: ¡_____ Ud.!
¡Escriba Ud.!
Tomar: ¡_____ Ud.!
¡Tome Ud.!
Entregar: ¡_____ la tarea!


¡Entregue la tarea!
Note the spelling change
because of the final –g sound.
-Car, -Gar, -Zar Verbs
Verbs that end in –car, -gar, and –zar
require a spelling change to keep the
original sound of the verb
Ex: entregar entregue
comenzarcomience
pescarpesque
Uds…
Entreguen Uds. la tarea.
Right! Just add an –N to
the command form when
you are talking to more
than one person (Uds.)
Let’s try a couple more!
Comer: ¡______ Uds.!
¡Coman Uds.!
Escribir: ¡_____ Uds.!
¡Escriban Uds.!
Tomar: ¡_____ Uds.!
¡Tomen Uds.!
Comenzar: ¡_____ el
examen!
¡No!
How do we make
negative commands in
Spanish?

¡No fume!
¡No tome café!

¡No coma tanto!
Use the same procedure
(to to yo, drop o, add
opposite ending)
Just add a NO BEFORE the
command.
Commands with Reflexive
Verbs
What about reflexive verbs?
In affirmative commands, all
objects are attached to the
end of the verb.
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
Levante + se= Levántese
Levanten + se= Levátense
¡Levántese! / ¡Siéntese!
Negative Commands with
Reflexive Verbs
What about reflexive verbs?
In negative commands, all
objects precede the verb.
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No
No
No
No
se
se
se
se
levante.
levanten.
siente.
sienten.
¡No se levante! ¡No se siénte!
Some irregulars
What would a lesson be
without a few irregulars to
make it interesting?? Can you
guess where these forms come
from?
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Haga la tarea.
Tenga paciencia.
Salga ahora.
Vuelva a casa.
Piense bien.
¡Sé bueno!
¡Esté tranquila!
¿Qué pasa?
Haga la tarea.

Hacer > yo hago > -o + -a
Tenga paciencia.
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Tener > yo tengo > -o + -a
Salga ahora.
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Salir > yo salgo > - o + -a
Vuelva a casa.
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Volver > yo vuelvo > -o + -a
Piense bien.
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Pensar > yo pienso > -o + -e
These verbs follow the same formula: start with the yo
form, drop the –o, and add the opposite vowel.
Sé, esté, dé, sepa, vaya
These five verbs are very
irregular for a good reason:
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Ser > yo soy
Estar > yo estoy
Dar > yo doy
Saber > yo sé
Ir > yo voy
The yo form does not end in
an –o, so there is no –o to
drop when forming the
command form.
Los Irregulares
Ser= Sé
Estar= Esté
Dar=Dé
Saber= Sepa
Ir= vaya
Practice Translating:
Give me the book!
Go to the office!
Be good! (use ser)
Be there at six o’clock! (use estar)
Know your vocabulary!
Check your answers
Dé el libro.
Vaya a la oficina.
Sé bueno.
Esté allí a las seis en punto.
Sepa el vocabulario.