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Edited by Joy Manstream, Krystle, Harri, Silver3212 and 5 others

Did you ever want to tell someone to do something in Spanish? Or not to do something? Either way, you would need a command. A command is used when you speak directly to a person or group of people and want to tell them to do or not to do something.

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  1. 1
    Determine to whom you are speaking. Since there are many ways to say "You" in Spanish, there are many different command forms. (You can also give a command to "us" which would mean "Let's..." or "Let's not...")
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  2. 2
    Use formal commands when you are speaking to a person or people you address as Ud. or Uds. The formula to follow is this:
    • take the yo form of the present tense indicative
    • drop the "-o" from the ending
    • add new endings: for -ar verbs add -e for Ud. and -en for Uds.; for -er or -ir verbs add -a for Ud. and -an for Uds.
    • An example of a formal command would be: "Look!" In Spanish, the formula is: miro, drop the "-o" = "mir-". Now, since it's an -ar verb, my commands would be: Mire Ud. and Miren Uds. There are irregular forms (verbs whose yo form does not end in -o) so see the Warnings section for a list.
    • To make the commands negative, simply add a No before the command. This is the equivalent of "Don't" in English. Therefore, "Don't look" would be No mire Ud. and No miren Uds.
  3. 3
    Use the same form as the él/ella/Ud. form of the present indicative tense when addressing someone informally as tú. So, using the same verb as above, "Look" would simply be Mira. Of course there are irregular verbs, so see the Warnings section below for a list of these verbs.
    • To speak to someone you address as tú, the affirmative and negative commands are different. The negative command follows the same pattern as the formal commands, but the endings are -es for -ar verbs and -as for -er or -ir verbs. So, "Don't look" would be No mires.
  4. 4
    The affirmative informal plural (vosotros) command is quite simple to form. Just remove the -r from the infinitive and add a -d. So, "Look" is Mirad.
    • To speak to a group of people you address as vosotros, the affirmative and negative verbs are different. The negative command follows the same pattern as the formal commands, but the endings are -éis for -ar verbs and -áis for -er and -ir verbs. Therefore, "Don't look" is No miréis.
  5. 5
    The last set of commands is the nosotros command. In this case, both the affirmative and negative commands follow the initial formula laid out above for the formal commands.
    • take the yo form of the present tense indicative
    • drop the "-o" from the ending
    • add new endings: for -ar verbs add -emos; for -er or -ir verbs add -amos
    • An example of a nosotros command would be "Let's look". Following the pattern, in Spanish the command is Miremos. The negative "Let's not look" is No miremos.
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Edit Tips

  • Remember, the first thing to do is to determine to whom you are speaking. If you are ever in doubt, go formal!
  • The endings used for all commands except the informal affirmative (tú and vosotros) are often referred to as "opposite endings". Remember what the infinitive is and you'll be able to simply supply the new command ending for each subject.
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Edit Warnings

  • Irregular formal commands: (to make them negative, just place No before the verb)
    • dar: Dé Ud.; Den Uds.
    • estar: Esté Ud.; Estén Uds.
    • ir: Vaya Ud.; Vayan Uds.
    • saber: Sepa Ud.; Sepan Uds.
    • ser: Sea Ud.; Sean Uds.
  • Irregular informal affirmative commands:
    • decir: Di
    • hacer: Haz
    • ir: Ve
    • poner: Pon
    • salir: Sal
    • ser: Sé
    • tener: Ten
    • venir: Ven

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Article Info

Categories: Spanish

Recent edits by: Lutherus, Oldcrank, Dave Crosby

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