Spanish Imperatives Tú Form

Study Notes

Used when speaking to a friend, family member, or pet.
To form positive commands for the tú form, use the 3rd person singular form of the present tense.
Examples:
- hablar (to speak) → ¡Habla! (Speak!)
- trabajar (to work) → ¡Trabaja! (Work!)
- comer (to eat) → ¡Come! (Eat!)
Irregular imperatives in the tú form:
- decir (to say) → di
- hacer (to make/do) → haz
- salir (to go out) → sal
- ser (to be) → sé
- tener (to have) → ten (e.g. ¡Ten cuidado! (Be careful!))
- ir (to go) → ve
- poner (to put) → pon
- venir (to come) → ven

Used when speaking to a group of friends, family members, or pets.
To form positive commands for the vosotros form, change the -r at the end of the infinitive to a -d.
Examples:
- hablar (to speak) → hablad
- correr (to run) → corred
Note: With reflexive verbs, drop the d before adding the reflexive pronoun.
- Levantarse → Levantaos
- Acostarse → Acostaos
Verbs that were previously irregular in the tú command are not irregular in the vosotros command and follow the same pattern.
- SALIR – SALID
- PONER – PONED
- TENER – TENED
- VENIR – VENID
- DECIR – DECID
- SER – SED
- IR – ID
- HACER - HACED

Used when speaking to an adult or someone you don't know.
To form the imperative of –AR verbs in the usted command:
- Start with the “yo” form present tense of a verb.
- Remove the “o”.
- Add an “e” or “en” to –AR verbs (use the present subjunctive endings for 3rd and 6th person).
To form the imperative of –ER and –IR verbs in the usted command:
- Start with the “yo” form present tense of a verb.
- Remove the “o”.
- Add an “a” or “an” to –ER and –IR verbs (use the present subjunctive endings for 3rd and 6th person).
The present subjunctive form is used for all negative commands.
Examples:
- Estudiar (to study) → no estudies (tú), no estudiéis (vosotros), no estudie (usted), no estudien (ustedes).
- Beber (to drink) → no bebas (tú), no bebáis (vosotros), no beba (usted), no beban (ustedes).
- Decidir (to decide) → no decidas (tú), no decidáis (vosotros), no decida (usted), no decidan (ustedes).