Imperative- Commands

Imperative Mood
(Affirmative and Negative Commands)

​Affirmative Commands and Negative Commands

• Tú commands (familiar)

• Usted commands (polite)

• Nosotros commands

​We will go through both Affirmative and Negative types of commands and how they are different. Take a look at the topics we will cover.

​Affirmative
commands

These commands are used when speaking to someone you are familiar with, such as a friend, family member, or child. They are formed by using the present tense of the verb without the subject pronoun.

Examples:

​Tú commands(affirmative)

• ¡Habla! - Speak!

• ¡Come! - Eat!

• ¡Canta! -Sing!

​Usted commands(affirmative)

​These commands are used when speaking to someone you are not familiar with, such as a stranger, a teacher, or a boss. They are formed by using the present tense of the verb with the subject pronoun usted.

Examples:

​¡Hable! - Speak!
¡Coma! - Eat!
¡Cante! - Sing!

​Nosotros commands(affirmative)

​These commands are used when giving a command to a group of people that includes the speaker. They are formed by using the present tense of the verb with the subject pronoun nosotros.

Examples:

• ¡Hablemos! - Let's Speak!

• ¡Comamos! - Lets Eat

• ¡Cantemos! - Let's Sing!

​Negative commands

These commands are used when speaking to someone you are familiar with, such as a friend, family member, or child. They are formed by using the present subjunctive of the verb with the subject pronoun tú.

Examples:

​Tú commands(negative)

• ¡No hables! - Don't Speak!

• ¡No comas! - Don't Eat!

• ¡No cantas! - Don't Sing!

​Usted commands(negative)

​These commands are used when speaking to someone you are not familiar with, such as a stranger, a teacher, or a boss. They are formed by using the present subjunctive of the verb with the subject pronoun usted.

Examples:

​¡No hable! - Don't Speak!
¡No coma! - Don't Eat!
¡No cante! - Don't Sing!

​Nosotros commands(negative)

​These commands are used when giving a command to a group of people that includes the speaker. They are formed by using the present subjunctive of the verb with the subject pronoun nosotros.

Examples:

• ¡No Hablemos! - Let's Speak!

• ¡No Comamos! - Lets Eat!

• ¡No Cantemos! - Let's Sing!

Additional Information

• Commands in Spanish (Youtube Video)