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COMMANDS
Two types of commands may be given. The first is a familiar command, which
may be given to someone younger than you, to a friend, or to a family member.
The second type of command, a polite command, is used with people older than
you are, authority figures, and most likely with your parents, grandparents, etc.
FAMILIAR COMMANDS
Affirmative familiar commands (commands that tell someone to do something)
are formed by dropping the “s” from the “tú” form of the present tense verb.
Although it may not be stated, the subject of a command is “you”.
Examples:
Limpias la casa bien.
¡Limpia la casa ahora!
You clean the house well. (statement)
(You) Clean the house now! (command)
Negative (Don’t do) commands are formed differently than are affirmative
commands. To tell someone not to do something, put “no” in front of the present
tense “yo” form of the verb. Yes, even if the present tense “yo” form is irregular,
begin with it. Then, drop the “o”, and add the following endings:
-ar verbs es
-er verbs as
-ir verbs as
Examples:
No pongas los zapatos en la mesa.
No comas tanto
.
¡No hables!
Don’t put the shoes on the table.
Don’t eat so much.
Don’t talk!
IRREGULAR FAMILIAR COMMANDS
DO COMMAND
decir
hacer
ir
poner
salir
ser
tener
venir
di
haz
ve
pon
sal
sé
ten
ven
DON’T DO COMMAND
no digas
no hagas
no vayas
no pongas
no salgas
no seas
no tengas
no vengas
POLITE COMMANDS
Polite commands, both affirmative and negative, are formed by using the “yo”
form of the present tense. For both affirmative and negative commands, drop the
“o”, and add the endings that are listed here:
-ar verbs e (usted); en (ustedes)
-er verbs a (usted); an (ustedes)
-ir verbs a (usted); an (ustedes)
Notes: Insert “no” in front of the verb if the command is a negative one. Insert
“usted” or “ustedes” after the verb. One generally adds “please” when giving a
polite command.
Examples:
Lea usted el informe por favor.
No fume usted por favor.
Escriban ustedes sus nombres por favor.
No coman ustedes aquí por favor.
Please read the report.
Please don’t smoke.
Write your names please.
Please don’t eat here.
UNPATTERNED IRREGULAR POLITE COMMANDS
DO COMMANDS
DON’T DO COMMANDS
dar
dé (Ud.)
den (Ud.)
no dé (Ud.)
no den (Uds.)
estar
esté (Ud.)
estén (Uds.)
no esté (Ud.)
no estén (Uds.)
ir
vaya (Ud.)
vayan (Uds.)
no vaya (Ud.)
no vayan (Uds.)
ser
sea (Ud.)
sean (Uds.)
no sea (Ud.)
no sean (Uds.)
“Sound-changer” verbs:
Verbs ending in –car, -gar, or –zar are irregular in the usted, ustedes, and
negative tú command forms. These verbs are irregular because a change in
spelling must take place in order to maintain the sound of the “c” in –car ending,
the “g” in –gar ending, and to avoid a ‘ze” combination in the polite command
forms of –zar verbs.
The usted command form of sacar cannot be sacé, because the “ce”
combination in Spanish has an “s” sound, but the “c” in the verb sacar is hard
(like a “k”) because “ca” says “ka” not “sa”.
Therefore, to maintain the hard “c” sound, the “ce” in sace” changes to “que”
(Remember that “que’ is pronounced “kay”.) The correct conjugation for the polite
Ud. command form of sacar is “saque”. The Uds. form is saquen. The negative
tú form is no saques.
Verbs ending in –gar have a similar problem. If the conjugation rules for regular
verbs applied to verbs like llegar, the polite Ud. command would be “llege” (soft
“g” sound. The “g” in llegar, however, is not soft. Therefore, a “u” is inserted
between the “g” and the “e”. The job of the “u” is to tell the reader to maintain the
original “hard” sound of the “g”. Thus, the proper polite Ud. command for llegar is
llegue. The ustedes form is lleguen. The negative tú command is no llegues.
Verbs ending in –zar have a similar problem. If the conjugation rules for regular
verbs applied to verbs like empezar, the polite Ud. command would be “empeze”
Spanish, however, rarely permits a “ze” combination. Therefore, the “z” changes
to a “c”.Thus, the proper polite Ud. command for empezar is empiece. The
ustedes form is empiecen. The negative tú command is no empieces. ( NOTE
THAT THE STEM CHANGE WAS MANTAINED BECAUSE COMMANDS ARE
DERIVED FROM THEIR “YO” FORMS.)
Verbs ending in –ger also change to maintain the original “h” sound of their –ger
ending, If the conjugation rules for regular verbs applied to verbs like escoger,
the polite usted command would be “escoga”. The “ga” combination, however, is
not pronounced with an ‘h” sound. Thus, the “g” changes to a “j”. The usted
command for escoger is escoja and the ustedes command is escojan. The
negative tú comomand is no escojas.
-car >> que
-gar >> gue
-zar >> ce
-ger >> ja
ex: saque
ex: llegue
ex: empiece
ex: escoja