Imperative Mood For Intermediate learners

What is the Imperative Mood?

The imperative mood (el modo imperativo) is used to give commands, instructions, requests, or advice, telling someone to do or not do something. Imperatives mainly work with second-person pronouns and have different forms for affirmative and negative as well as formal and informal commands.

Affirmative Imperative

Based on the level of formality and the number of people addressed, the affirmative imperative is either formed from the present indicative or present subjunctive form of the verb:

For the informal "tú", the affirmative imperative uses the 3rd person singular form of present indicative; for example, habla, come, vive

For the formal "usted", the affirmative imperative is formed from the 3rd person singular of present subjunctive; for example, hable, coma, viva

For the informal plural "vosotros" (only used in Spain), the affirmative imperative takes the infinitive form and replaces the final "-r" with "-d"; for example, hablad, comed, vivid

For the plural "ustedes" (formal in Spain and general in Latin America), the affirmative imperative uses the 3rd person plural form of present subjunctive; for example, hablen, coman, vivan

Here are some example sentences:

Example

Habla más despacio.

Speak slower.

informal singular "tú" imperative

Haga su trabajo.

Do your work.

formal singular "usted" imperative

Coman sus verduras.

Eat your vegetables.

plural "ustedes"

Irregular Verbs

Eight verbs have irregular forms for "tú" in affirmative imperative:

decir → di

hacer → haz

ir → ve

poner → pon

salir → sal

ser → sé

tener → ten

venir→ ven

Here are some example sentences:

Example

Di la verdad.

Tell the truth.

Haz tu tarea.

Do your homework.

Sé amable.

Be kind.

Negative Imperative

The negative imperative uses the corresponding present subjunctive form in all cases and adds the negative marker "no" before it. This means that the negative commands have the same form as their affirmative counterparts in case of "usted" and "ustedes" commands but are different in case of "tú" and "vosotros":

tú	No hables.
usted	No hable.
vosotros	No habléis.
ustedes	No hablen.

Here are some example sentences:

Example

No comas eso.

Don't eat that.

No digan mentiras.

Don't tell lies.

Adding Pronouns

In affirmative imperative, object pronouns and reflexive pronouns attach to the end of the verb. If we have both direct and indirect object pronouns, the indirect object pronoun comes before the direct object pronoun. If we have reflexive as well as direct object pronouns, the reflexive pronoun comes before the direct object pronoun. For example:

Example

Dímelo.

Tell me it.

Siéntate.

Sit (yourself) down.

In negative commands, the object or reflexive pronoun comes between the negative marker "no" and the verb. If there are multiple pronouns, the order of appearance is the same as in the case of affirmative commands. For example:

Example

No me lo digas.

Don't tell me it.

No te sientes.

Don't sit down.

Tip!

Infinitives are sometimes used in general commands or instructions which are not directed at a specific person but at everyone, for example in signs or recipes.

Example

No fumar.

No smoking.

Empujar.

Push (to open).

Mezclar los ingredientes.

Mix the ingredients.