Imperative in Spanish (affirmative commands)

Forming the imperative: Instructions TO DO something (imperativo affirmativo)

The imperative does not exist for all "persons", but only for tú, nosotros, vosotros and usted or ustedes. The endings are significantly different from the endings of other tenses and must be memorized. What you have to keep in mind is that the vowels in some of the endings change. Some forms can also be found in the subjuntivo.

Need help?

Ask help from one of our professional teachers on Skype!

• Free trial lesson
• Money back guarantee
• Flexible appointments

Adriaan Johan K.

Spanish, Dutch

Hi, I'm Adriaan. I have been teaching Dutch and Spanish for seven years to students of all levels, from absolute beginners to ...

Montserrat F.

Spanish

...

Marcus H.

German, Spanish

I am Marcus Hartmann, 30 years old and I have been living in Cali, Colombia, for more than four years. There I work as a German teacher for ...

Find a teacher

Formation of the imperative (affirmative) - tú  

The formation of tú (2nd person-singular) can be derived from the 3rd person-singular of the Present (Indicative)

​

• ​imperativo afirmativo: ¡Llama a tu amiga! (tú) (Call your friend!)
• indicativo presente: (ella) Llama a su amiga. (She calls her friend)

Formation of the imperative (affirmative)  - usted, ustedes and nosotros

The imperative forms of usted (3rd person-singular) and ustedes (3rd person-plural), as well as nosotros (1st person plural) are formed "normally" as in the indicative present tense, but for verbs on -ar the vowel of the ending becomes e and for verbs on -er and -ir the vowel changes into an a. This pattern can also be found in the subjuntivo present.

• imperativo afirmativo: ¡Bebamos! (nosotros) (Let's drink!)
• indicativo presente: Nosotros bebemos. (We drink)

Formation of the imperative (affirmative)  - vosotros

The imperative form of vosotros (2nd person plural) can be derived from the infinitive. Only the r at the end of the infinitive is replaced by d.

• infinitivo: escribir (to write)
• imperativo afirmativo: ¡Escribid! (Write!)

Irregular forms in imperativo afirmativo

Verbs that are already irregular in the 3rd person-singular (él, ella, usted) in the present tense (indicative) also have the same irregularity in the imperative 2nd person-singular. This applies to diphtong, vocal changes and changes due to the pronunciation rules.

• indicativo presente: Empieza. (He/She starts)
• imperativo afirmativo: ¡Empieza! (Start!)
• indicativo presente: Carlos vuelve a casa. (Carlos comes back home)
• imperativo afirmativo: ¡Vuelve a casa! (Come back home!)
• indicativo presente: Elige. (He/She chooses)
• imperativo afirmativo: ¡Elige! (Choose!)

For a little refresh, you can check the present tense page again 

8 highly irregular verbs in Imperative

The Spanish imperative has 8 highly irregular verbs (decir, hacer, ir, tener, venir, salir, traer and oír).

Position of object pronouns

If you are telling someone TO DO something, the object pronouns join on to the END of the verb. An accent is usually added to make sure that the stress in the imperative verb stays.

• ¡Explícamelo! (Explain it to me!)
• ¡Perdóneme! (Excuse-me!)
• Dígame (Tell me)
• Esperémosla (Let's wait for her)

Note that when there are two object pronouns, the indirect object pronoun always goes before the direct object pronoun.

Don't forget to look at the negative imperative too! It is formed differently!