Command Forms
or
Imperatives

The commands in Spanish are complicated by the fact that there are five different ways of saying YOU! That said, the command forms and the present subjunctive of verbs are very closely connected and it is usually well worth while learning them all together. In the following pages, we show the close relationship between the two forms. For now, do not worry about the present subjunctive: we will cover that in second year. However, you are about to use it for the command forms, so you might just as well know how it is formed.

Formation of the present subjunctive

Take the first person singular of the present tense, remove the ending -o, and add the following endings:

-AR verbs

-e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en

Example:

Hablar > hablo > habl- >>> hable, hables hable hablemos habléis hablen

-ER and -IR verbs

-a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an

Example:

Comer > como > com- >>> coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis, coman

Verbs that are irregular in the first person singular of the present indicative will be irregular throughout the present subjunctive.

Example:

Poner > pongo > pong- >>> ponga, pongas, ponga, pongamos, pongáis, pongan

Tener > tengo > teng- > tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan

Estar, ir, dar, ser, saber are all irregular.

Saber > sé >>> sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan

Estar > estoy>>> esté, estés , testé, estemos, estéis, estén

Dar > doy >>> dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den

Ser > soy >>> sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean

Ir > voy >>> vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan

These are not all the irregular verbs. There are many more. You can find some in your text book. Note that there are several excellent verb books available from Indigo / Chapters and Amazon.ca, including Bescherelle, Baron’s, and 501 Spanish Verbs. These are easily accessible, highly recommended, extremely useful, and relatively cheap.

Remember that stem changing verbs will usually stem change in the subjunctive too:

Volver > vuelvo >>> vuelva, vuelvas, vuelva, volvamos, volváis, vuelvan.

However, there are several irregularities, in addition to tener (above):

Seguir > sigo >>> siga, sigas, siga, sigamos, sigáis, sigan
Pedir > pido >>> pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidáis, pidan.

Note too spelling changes that occur with the introduction of the vowel -e; for example:

Llegar > llego >>> llegue, llegues, llegue ...
Rogar > ruego >>> ruegue, ruegues, ruegue ...

Buscar > busco >>> busque, busques, busque ...
Acercar > acerco >>> acerque, acerques, acerque ...

I Use of the subjunctive in main clauses

Remember that the subjunctive is also the command form on 8 out of ten occasions.

1. All five negative commands:

No hables tú, no hable Ud., no hablemos nosotros, no habléis vosotros, no hablen Uds.

2. Three positive commands:

Hable Ud., hablemos, and hablen Uds.

3. The two exceptions in the command forms are

Habla tú (verb formed from the third person singular present indicative)

Hablad vosotros (the infinitive [hablar] minus the final -r, add a final -d [hablad]).

II Paradigms for the command forms:

Regular verbs that end in -AR (Example: HABLAR)

Subject	Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive	Negative Command	Positive Command
yo	hablo	hable	---	---
tú	hablas	hables	no hables	habla *
Ud.	habla	hable	no hable	hable
nosotros	hablamos	hablemos	no hablemos	hablemos
vosotros	habláis	habléis	no habléis	hablad **
Uds.	hablan	hablen	no hablen	hablen

* As was stated above, habla (3rd person singular, present indicative) is irregular.

** Hablad is irregular too (take the infinitive, take off the final -R and add -d.

Regular verbs that end in -ER (Example: COMER)

Subject	Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive	Negative Command	Positive Command
yo	como	coma	---	---
tú	comes	comas	no comas	come *
Ud.	come	coma	no coma	coma
nosotros	comemos	comamos	no comamos	comamos
vosotros	coméis	comáis	no comáis	comed **
Uds.	comen	coman	no coman	coman

* As was stated above, vive (3rd person singular, present indicative) is irregular.

** Comed is irregular too (take the infinitive, take off the final -R and add -d.

Regular verbs tthat end in -IR (Example: VIVIR)

Subject	Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive	Negative Command	Positive Command
yo	vivo	viva	---	---
tú	vives	vivas	no vivas	vive *
Ud.	vive	viva	no viva	viva
nosotros	vivimos	vivamos	no vivamos	vivamos
vosotros	vivís	viváis	no viváis	vivid **
Uds.	viven	vivan	no vivan	vivan

* As was stated above, vive (3rd person singular, present indicative) is irregular.

** Vivid is irregular too (take the infinitive, take off the final -R and add -d.

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