Knowing how to give commands in Spanish is key to many everyday situations. If you’re a learner of the language, it’s therefore important to know how to form the imperative in Spanish, which is used to give commands, instructions, advice and to ask someone to do something for you.
The Coffee Break Spanish Show is a series of short, informal podcast episodes, in which we discuss tricky but useful topics for Spanish learners. In this episode, Concha and Mark discuss how to give commands in Spanish.
Listen along to the podcast episode as you read this article, and don’t forget to download your free worksheet at the end, which will help you practise everything you learn.
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How to give commands in Spanish: forming the imperative
The best and most natural way to give commands in Spanish is to use the imperative. The imperative in Spanish is a grammatical mood used to issue commands, make requests, or offer advice.
It’s the mood you use when you want someone to do something directly. Examples include:
¡Ven aquí!
Come here!
¡Canta para mí!
Sing for me!
To effectively use the imperative in Spanish, it’s important to understand how to conjugate verbs correctly. Spanish commands vary depending on who you’re addressing. Notably, the affirmative imperative has unique forms for tú (informal singular) and vosotros (informal plural), while we use the subjunctive for usted (formal singular), ustedes (formal plural), and the negative imperative forms.
Don’t worry if you are not familiar with the subjunctive – we have another episode of The Coffee Break Spanish Show in which we discuss the subjunctive conjugations and its uses. Our main focus today will be the imperative form for tú, but we will also touch on the vosotros form, as it is also very commonly used.
Command forms for ‘tú’
For the tú form, we use the third person singular form of the present tense. Here are a few examples:
Habla español.
Speak Spanish.
Bebe más agua.
Drink more water.
Pide una hamburguesa, por favor.
Order a hamburger, please.
Some verbs have irregular imperative forms
Here are the verbs that are irregular in their imperative tú form, followed by some examples of each.
decir > di
For example:
Di eso.
Say that.
Dime.
Tell me.
Dile.
Tell him / her.
hacer > haz
Haz los deberes.
Do your homework.
Hazlo.
Do it.
ir > ve
¡Vete!
Go away!
poner > pon
Pon la mesa.
Set the table.
Ponlo aquí.
Put it here.
Tengo un vídeo gracioso para mostrarte. – Vale, ponlo.
I have a funny video to show you. – OK, put it on.
salir > sal
¡Sal de aquí!
Get out of here!
ser > sé
Sé amable.
Be kind.
tener > ten
¡Ten paciencia!*
Be patient!
venir > ven
¡Ven aquí!
Come here!
Ven aquí y haz los deberes.
Come here and do your homework.
*Note that tener paciencia is one of the common tener expressions in Spanish, which would often be translated using the verb “to be” in English.
Command forms for ‘vosotros’
For the vosotros form, take the infinitive and replace the final -r with -d.
For instance, venir (“to come”) becomes venid (“come”, plural). Similarly, hacer (“to do” or “to make”) becomes haced (“do” / “make”, plural) in the vosotros form of the imperative. For example:
Venid aquí y haced los deberes.
Come here and do your homework.
Using pronouns with imperatives
When adding pronouns to imperatives, attach them to the end of the verb. This often requires an accent mark to maintain the correct stress. Let’s see how this works with some examples:
Compra una camisa. > Cómprala.
Buy a shirt. > Buy it.
Compra una camisa para Jorge. > Cómprasela.
Buy a shirt for Jorge. > Buy it for him.
For more information about how to use accents in Spanish, don’t forget to check out another episode of The Coffee Break Spanish Show.
We hope that you found this article useful. Make sure to listen to the full episode with Mark and Concha on The Coffee Break Spanish Show. This is the series in which we look at a range of topics for Spanish learners, so make sure to subscribe to our podcast feed and our channel on YouTube.
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So, whether you’re asking someone to help you, offering advice, or simply giving directions, knowing how to give commands in Spanish using the imperative is the best way to do so. Remember the different forms for tú and vosotros, the irregular verbs, and how to properly attach pronouns.
With practice, giving commands in Spanish will become second nature. Mucho ánimo con el imperativo y recuerda: ¡estudia!
Happy Coffee Breaking!
