The imperative is the verb form for telling someone to do something. English has one form (“speak!”); Spanish has a different one for each “you”: tú, usted, vosotros and ustedes, and a different form again when the command is negative.
Short answer: positive tú = the él form of the present: ¡Habla! Everything else (usted, ustedes and all negatives) uses the subjunctive: ¡Hable!, ¡No hables! Pronouns attach to positive commands and go before negative ones.
Spanish writes an upside-down exclamation mark at the start: ¡Habla!
How commands are built
A command (the imperative) tells someone to do something. Spanish builds almost every command from one of two sources. The positive tú command is the same as the “he/she” form of the present tense. Every other command, and every negative one, borrows its form from the present subjunctive: take the “I” form of the present, drop the -o, and swap the vowel (-ar verbs take e, -er and -ir verbs take a). More in the subjunctive.
The only exceptions are the eight short tú commands below, plus the positive vosotros command (hablad), used only in Spain.
All the forms for three model verbs
To whom
Positive
Negative
tú (informal)
AH-blah
noh AH-bles
usted (formal)
AH-bleh
noh AH-bleh
vosotros (Spain, group)
ah-BLAD
noh ah-BLAYS
ustedes (group)
AH-blen
noh AH-blen
Positive vosotros (used only in Spain) replaces the final -r of the infinitive with -d: hablar → hablad. In Latin America, ustedes serves for every group.
The eight irregular tú commands
Short and very common. Learners often memorise them as a rhyme: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven. Their negatives are regular subjunctive forms.
Commands with pronouns
Positive commands take object and reflexive pronouns on the end, usually with a written accent to keep the stress. Negative commands put them before the verb.
Positive
¡Dímelo!tell-me-it
DEE-meh-loh · “Tell me.”
Negative
¡Nonotmemeloitdigas!tell
noh meh loh DEE-gahs · “Don’t tell me.”
Why:Two pronouns: me (to whom) comes before lo (what). The accent on dí keeps the stress once two syllables are added.
Positive
¡Siéntate!sit-yourself
SYEN-tah-teh · “Sit down.”
Negative
¡Nonotteyourselfsientes!sit
noh teh SYEN-tes · “Don’t sit down.”
Why:Sentarse changes e to ie in both forms. The negative takes the subjunctive sientes.
Positive
¡Cómpralo!buy-it
KOM-prah-loh · “Buy it.”
Negative
¡Nonotloitcompres!buy
noh loh KOM-pres · “Don’t buy it.”
Why:Lo stands for a masculine thing, for example el libro.
Positive
¡Levántense!get-up-yourselves
leh-BAN-ten-seh · “Stand up, everyone.”
Negative
¡Nonotseyourselveslevanten!get-up
noh seh leh-BAN-ten · “Don’t stand up.”
Why:Ustedes takes se, like the “they” form.
Positive
¡Dámelo!give-me-it
DAH-meh-loh · “Give it to me.”
Negative
¡Nonotmemeloitdes!give
noh meh loh DES · “Don’t give it to me.”
Why:Des needs no accent: it is one syllable.
Softer ways to ask
A bare command can sound abrupt with strangers. These alternatives go from direct to most polite.
1 · Command
¡Cierracloselathepuerta!door
THYEH-rrah lah PWER-tah“Close the door!”
2 · With por favor
Cierracloselathepuerta,doorpor favor.please
THYEH-rrah lah PWER-tah, por fah-BOR“Close the door, please.”
3 · Question
¿Cierras(you) closelathepuerta?door
THYEH-rrahs lah PWER-tah“Will you close the door?”
4 · Poder
¿Puedes(you) cancerrarto-closelathepuerta?door
PWEH-des theh-RRAR lah PWER-tah“Can you close the door?”
5 · Conditional
¿Podría(you) couldcerrarto-closelathepuerta?door
poh-DREE-ah theh-RRAR lah PWER-tah“Could you close the door? (usted)”
Infinitives as instructions
No fumar, empujar, tirar
Signs, recipes and forms often give instructions with the plain infinitive (the -ar, -er, -ir form) instead of a command: it is neutral and addresses no one in particular.
A recipe in commands
Pela, corta, fríe
Cookbooks and cooking videos use the tú command, one verb per step. Here is a tortilla de patatas.
1
Pelapeellas patatas.the potatoes
PEH-lah lahs pah-TAH-tahs · “Peel the potatoes.”
2
Córtalascut-themen láminas.in slices
KOR-tah-lahs en LAH-mee-nahs · “Slice them thinly.”
3
Fríelasfry-themcon cebolla.with onion
FREE-eh-lahs kon theh-BOH-yah · “Fry them with onion.”