El Imperativo/ Imperative Form

The imperative form is used to give an order, direction, or command.

REGULAR VERBS

To form the command, drop the -o of the first person present form (indicative mode) of the verb and add the following endings:

Verbs ending in -ar, such as cobrar/ to collect money:

Positive Imperative	Negative Imperative
cobra (tú) cobre (Ud.) cobremos (nosotros) cobrad (vosotros) cobren (Uds., ellos)	no cobres no cobre no cobremos no cobréis no cobren

Verbs ending in -er and -ir, such as prender/ to turn-on and escribir/ to write, have the same endings, except for vosotros.

 

IRREGULAR VERBS -COMMANDS

The same endings mentioned above are used for irregular verbs for the imperative form. 

Infinitive	Tú	Ud., él	Nos.	Vos.	Uds., ellos
pensar/ to think contar/ to count conocer/ to know poner/to put	piensa cuenta conoce pon	piense cuente conozca ponga	pensemos contemos conozcamos pongamos	pensad contad conoced poned	piensen cuenten conozcan pongan

IRREGULAR FORMS -COMMANDS

1. The following have irregular command forms for the pronoun tú:

Infinitive	Pos. Imper.	Neg. Imper.
Ser/to be Tener/ to have Venir/ to come Decir/ to say Salir/ to go out Hacer/ to do Ir/ to go Poner/ to put	sé (tú) ten (tú) ven (tú) di (tú) sal (tú) haz (tú) ve (tú) pon (tú)	no seas no tengas no vengas no digas no salgas no hagas no vayas no pongas

2. The following verbs have irregular negative command forms:

Infinitive	Pos. Imper.	Neg. Imper.
Dar/ to give Estar/ to be Saber/ to know	da (tú) está (tú) sabe (tú)	no des no estés no sepas

Although subject pronouns are rarely used with commands, they can be placed after the verb for emphasis or courtesy.

EXAMPLES:

·         Coman Uds. sin falta./ Remember to eat.

·         Firme Ud. aquí, por favor./ Please, sign here.

 

THE EXPRESSION LET'S...

1. This English expression is equivalent to the command form corresponding to nosotros.

EXAMPLES:

·         Abramos el vino./Let's open the wine.

·         No tomemos tanto./ Let's not drink too much.

 

2. The expression let's can also be expressed using vamos a + infinitive.

EXAMPLES:

·         Vamos a abrir el vino./ Let's open the wine.

·         No vayamos a tomar tanto./ Let's not drink too much.