Spanish Affirmative Imperative: How to Give Commands?
The Spanish affirmative imperative is the verb form used to give orders, instructions and advice directly. It has five forms (tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ustedes) — there is no yo form.
- Order: ¡Cierra la puerta! (Close the door!)
- Instruction: Pulsa el botón rojo (Press the red button)
- Advice: Descansa un poco (Rest a bit)
- Invitation: Ven a la fiesta (Come to the party)
Practice Affirmative Imperative
What is the Spanish affirmative imperative used for?
Use it when you want someone to do something. It's the most direct way to ask, suggest or command:
- Commands: ¡Habla más despacio! (Speak slower!)
- Requests: Pasa, por favor. (Come in, please.)
- Directions: Gira a la derecha. (Turn right.)
- Recipes and manuals: Mezcla los huevos con harina. (Mix the eggs with flour.)
- Advice: Bebe mucha agua. (Drink plenty of water.)
- Invitations: Entra y siéntate. (Come in and sit down.)
How do you conjugate the affirmative imperative?
Each person is formed differently. Memorizing the rule per person is the fastest approach:
- tú = 3rd person singular of the present indicative (habla, come, vive)
- usted = 3rd person singular of the present subjunctive (hable, coma, viva)
- nosotros = 1st person plural subjunctive (hablemos, comamos, vivamos)
- vosotros = infinitive minus -r + -d (hablad, comed, vivid)
- ustedes = 3rd person plural subjunctive (hablen, coman, vivan)
| Person | hablar (-ar) | comer (-er) | vivir (-ir) |
|---|---|---|---|
| tú | habla | come | vive |
| usted | hable | coma | viva |
| nosotros | hablemos | comamos | vivamos |
| vosotros | hablad | comed | vivid |
| ustedes | hablen | coman | vivan |
Important exception: the verb ir uses vamos in nosotros (not vayamos): ¡Vamos al cine! (Let's go to the movies!)
Which 8 verbs have irregular tú forms?
Eight very common verbs have a special tú form. You need to memorize them:
| Infinitive | tú | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ser | sé | ¡Sé bueno! (Be good!) |
| ir | ve | ¡Ve con cuidado! (Go carefully!) |
| hacer | haz | ¡Haz los deberes! (Do your homework!) |
| decir | di | ¡Di la verdad! (Tell the truth!) |
| poner | pon | ¡Pon la mesa! (Set the table!) |
| salir | sal | ¡Sal de aquí! (Get out of here!) |
| venir | ven | ¡Ven conmigo! (Come with me!) |
| tener | ten | ¡Ten cuidado! (Be careful!) |
The other persons (usted, nosotros, vosotros, ustedes) come from the subjunctive, so they are also irregular: haz / haga / hagamos / haced / hagan.
How do stem-changing verbs (e→ie, o→ue, e→i) work?
Verbs that diphthongize in the present keep the change in tú, usted and ustedes, but not in nosotros and vosotros:
| Verb | tú | usted | nosotros | vosotros | ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cerrar (e→ie) | cierra | cierre | cerremos | cerrad | cierren |
| volver (o→ue) | vuelve | vuelva | volvamos | volved | vuelvan |
| pedir (e→i) | pide | pida | pidamos | pedid | pidan |
| dormir (o→ue) | duerme | duerma | durmamos | dormid | duerman |
Spelling changes in -ar verbs
- -gar → -gu- before e: llegar → llegue, lleguemos, lleguen
- -car → -qu- before e: buscar → busque, busquemos, busquen
- -zar → -c- before e: empezar → empiece, empecemos, empiecen
Note: the spelling change affects usted, nosotros and ustedes, but not tú (which keeps the present form: llega, busca, empieza).
How do you form the vosotros imperative?
The vosotros form is very regular across all verbs: drop the -r from the infinitive and add -d.
- hablar → hablad
- comer → comed
- vivir → vivid
- ir → id
- tener → tened
- hacer → haced
Exception with reflexive verbs: the -d drops when adding the pronoun os:
- levantarse → levantaos (not levantados)
- callarse → callaos
- sentarse → sentaos
Where do pronouns go with affirmative commands?
With the affirmative, unstressed pronouns (me, te, se, lo, la, le, nos, os, les) attach to the end of the verb, forming one word. If the stress shifts, you need to add a written accent:
- dar → dame (¡Dame el libro! — Give me the book!)
- decir → dímelo (¡Dímelo ya! — Tell me already!)
- levantar → levántate (¡Levántate! — Get up!)
- sentar → siéntese (¡Siéntese, por favor! — Please sit down!)
- contar → cuéntame (¡Cuéntame todo! — Tell me everything!)
In the nosotros form with a reflexive pronoun, the -s drops:
- levantarnos → levantémonos (not levantémosnos)
- irnos → vámonos (Let's go!)
Want to practice the affirmative imperative? In our app you can conjugate verbs with interactive exercises and compare affirmative with negative imperative.