Affirmative and Positive Commands in Spanish

If you want to give someone a direct instruction in Spanish Do this, Eat that, Come here youre using the imperative. In everyday speech people often call these affirmative or positive commands. Below Ill explain the most common forms, show examples, and point out a few tricky spots (pronouns, reflexives, and irregular verbs) in a clear, friendly way.

Quick overview: who and how

Spanish has different imperative forms depending on who youre talking to:

• t informal you (friends, family)
• usted formal you (polite, strangers)
• vosotros plural informal you (Spain)
• ustedes plural you (Latin America and formal plural in Spain)
• nosotros lets / we (lets do something)

How to form affirmative commands (regular verbs)

• T: Use the 3rd person singular of the present indicative. Examples: hablar habla, comer come, vivir vive.
• Usted: Use the 3rd person singular of the present subjunctive. Examples: hablar hable, comer coma.
• Nosotros: Use the 1st person plural subjunctive. Examples: hablar hablemos, comer comamos (equivalent to "lets speak/eat").
• Vosotros: For affirmative, replace the infinitive ending -r with -d. Examples: hablar hablad, comer comed.
• Ustedes: Use the 3rd person plural subjunctive. Examples: hablar hablen, comer coman.

Common irregular affirmative t commands

Some very common verbs are irregular in the t affirmative. Memorize this short list: ven, di, sal, haz, ten, ve, pon, s. That is:

• venir ven
• decir di
• salir sal
• hacer haz
• tener ten
• ir ve
• poner pon
• ser s

For usted/ustedes/nosotros, use the corresponding subjunctive forms: e.g. hacer haga / hagan / hagamos.

Affirmative vs negative commands

Negative commands are formed differently: for t, usted, vosotros, and ustedes, negative uses the present subjunctive (e.g. No hables, No hable, No hablis, No hablen). Notice that t affirmative (habla) is not the same as negative (no hables).

Pronouns and placement (important)

• With affirmative commands, object and reflexive pronouns attach to the end: dame (give me), sintate (sit down), trelo (bring it).
• With negative commands, pronouns go before the verb: No me des, No te sientes, No lo traigas.
• When you attach pronouns to affirmative verbs, you often need an accent to keep the original stress: levntate (not levantate), dmelo (not dimelo).

Reflexive verbs

Reflexives follow the same rules: attach the pronoun in affirmative: acustate (go to bed), lvense (wash yourselves ustedes). For negative: No te acuestes, No se laven.

Quick examples

• T affirmative: Come la manzana. (Eat the apple.)
• T negative: No comas tanto. (Dont eat so much.)
• Usted affirmative: Hable ms despacio. (Speak more slowly.)
• Nosotros affirmative: Vamos Vmonos (Lets go / lets leave.)
• Vosotros affirmative (Spain): Hablad ahora. (Speak now.)
• Ustedes affirmative: Escuchen con atencin. (Listen carefully.)
• Pronoun example: Dmelo. (Tell me it / Tell it to me.)

Tips to practice

• Start with the common irregular t commands listed above theyre used a lot.
• Practice attaching pronouns to affirmative commands and remember to add accents when stress changes.
• Listen to native speakers: commands show up in recipes, directions, and casual speech.

Commands are powerful and very useful once you know the basic patterns and a handful of irregulars, youll be giving clear instructions in Spanish with confidence.

Additional Links

Positive Affirmations Seem To Play An Important Role In Mental Imagery