The affirmative imperative addressed to você is the default command form of Brazilian Portuguese. It's what you'll read on every medication box, traffic sign, recipe, app prompt, and polite request across the country. Master this one form and you can give a clear, neutral, universally understood command anywhere in Brazil. The mechanics are refreshingly simple, because the form is borrowed wholesale from a tense you may already know: the present subjunctive.
The rule: take the present subjunctive 3sg
To command a você, use the present subjunctive, third-person singular of the verb. That's the entire rule. Falar → fale!, comer → coma!, partir → parta!
The reason is historical and intuitive once stated: a command to a "polite you" is really a softened wish — "(may you) speak" — and the subjunctive is the mood of wishes. Brazilian Portuguese froze that wishful form into its standard command.
| Infinitive | Você command | Vocês command (plural) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| falar | fale! | falem! | speak! |
| comer | coma! | comam! | eat! |
| partir | parta! | partam! | leave! / set off! |
| ficar | fique! | fiquem! | stay! |
| fazer | faça! | façam! | do! / make! |
| dizer | diga! | digam! | say! / tell! |
| vir | venha! | venham! | come! |
| ir | vá! | vão! | go! |
| ser | seja! | sejam! | be! |
| estar | esteja! | estejam! | be! (state) |
Notice two things. The -ar verbs flip to an -e ending (falar → fale, ficar → fique), while -er/-ir verbs flip to an -a ending (comer → coma, partir → parta). That vowel swap — the "opposite vowel" of the subjunctive — is the heart of the form. And the spelling adjustments you see in ficar → fique (c→qu to keep the hard /k/ sound before e) and fazer → faça (ç to keep the /s/ sound) come straight from the subjunctive's spelling rules.
Regular verbs in action
Fale mais alto, por favor — não consigo te ouvir.
Speak louder, please — I can't hear you.
Coma o seu prato antes de pedir sobremesa.
Eat your meal before ordering dessert.
Fique tranquilo, eu cuido disso.
Don't worry / Stay calm, I'll take care of it.
In each, the command form is exactly the subjunctive 3sg: fale, coma, fique. If you've studied the present subjunctive, you already know these — you're just using them in a main clause as a command.
The common irregulars
The verbs that are irregular in the present subjunctive carry that irregularity into the imperative. These are high-frequency, so learn them as a set.
Venha aqui, preciso te contar uma coisa.
Come here, I need to tell you something.
Faça o que você quiser, eu não vou interferir.
Do whatever you want, I won't interfere.
Vá com calma na estrada, está chovendo.
Take it easy on the road, it's raining.
Diga a verdade, eu não vou ficar bravo.
Tell the truth, I won't get angry.
Venha (vir), faça (fazer), vá (ir), diga (dizer), seja (ser), esteja (estar) — these don't follow the simple vowel-swap, so they must be memorized. The good news is they're the same forms you already use after que in the subjunctive (quero que ele venha, é bom que você faça).
The plural: vocês → just add -m
To command more than one person (vocês), take the você command and add -m: fale → falem, coma → comam, faça → façam, venha → venham. This is the present subjunctive 3rd-person plural.
Falem um de cada vez, por favor.
Speak one at a time, please.
Façam silêncio, a prova vai começar.
Be quiet, the exam is about to start.
Venham todos para a sala, vamos começar a reunião.
Everyone come to the room, we're going to start the meeting.
A teacher addressing a class, a flight attendant addressing passengers, a sign addressing the public — all use this -m plural.
This is the language of public Brazil
The você-imperative is everywhere in written and institutional Brazilian Portuguese. It's worth seeing why: it's neutral (neither overly familiar nor stiff), it works for an unknown reader, and it's grammatically standard. So it is the default for instructions and public messaging.
Fale com seu médico antes de usar este medicamento.
Talk to your doctor before using this medication. (medication label)
Atenda à chamada e aguarde o sinal.
Answer the call and wait for the tone. (service prompt)
Mantenha distância. Pare. Olhe. Atravesse.
Keep your distance. Stop. Look. Cross. (traffic / safety signs)
If you read any Brazilian sign, ad, manual, or app, you are reading this form. Recognizing it on sight is half of functional literacy in Brazil.
How English handles this differently
English uses the bare verb for commands to anyone: "speak," "eat," "come," "go," with no change for one person or many, formal or familiar. Portuguese, in contrast, (1) changes the vowel ending (falar → fale), (2) has a distinct plural (falem), and (3) draws the form from the subjunctive rather than the dictionary form. The most common English-speaker error is to use the bare-stem-like form fala (which is really the tu/indicative form) for você, or to use the infinitive falar as a command — both wrong in standard usage.
Common Mistakes
❌ Fala mais alto, por favor. (to a você, in writing)
Nonstandard for você — 'fala' is the tu/colloquial form; the standard você-command is 'fale'.
✅ Fale mais alto, por favor.
Speak louder, please.
Fala is fine in casual speech, but the standard você-imperative — and anything written — is fale.
❌ Fazer silêncio, por favor.
Incorrect — the infinitive isn't a command; use the imperative 'faça' / 'façam'.
✅ Faça silêncio, por favor.
Be quiet, please.
❌ Vão você embora.
Wrong number and word order — 'vá' for one person; 'vá embora' for 'go away'.
✅ Vá embora.
Go away.
❌ Falem mais alto. (to a single person)
Wrong number — 'falem' is plural (vocês); use 'fale' for one person.
✅ Fale mais alto.
Speak louder. (to one person)
❌ Está calmo, vai dar tudo certo.
Wrong form — the imperative of estar is 'esteja', not the indicative 'está'.
✅ Esteja calmo, vai dar tudo certo.
Be calm, everything will work out.
Key Takeaways
- The você-command = present subjunctive 3sg: -ar verbs end in -e (fale, fique, pare), -er/-ir verbs end in -a (coma, parta, abra).
- Irregulars match the subjunctive: venha, faça, vá, diga, seja, esteja.
- The plural (vocês) just adds -m: falem, comam, façam, venham.
- This is the standard, universal Brazilian command and the form of all signs, labels, ads, and instructions — Fale com seu médico, Pare, Aguarde.
- Don't use the infinitive (falar) or the tu-form (fala) as a standard você-command, and never write está where you mean the command esteja.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- The Imperative in BR PortugueseA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese gives commands, requests, and instructions — the você-form (from the subjunctive), the regional tu-form, the always-subjunctive negative, and the famous tu/você mismatch in real speech.
- Affirmative Imperative with Tu (Regional)B1 — How the tu-form imperative works, where it is used in Brazil, and why fala, vem, and olha are the colloquial workhorses of everyday speech.
- Negative ImperativeA2 — How to tell someone NOT to do something — always built on the present subjunctive — and why não fale is standard even though the affirmative is fala.
- Imperatives in Instructions and RecipesA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese uses the imperative — and the infinitive — in recipes, manuals, signs, and ads.
- Presente do Subjuntivo: Regular -ar VerbsA2 — How to form the present subjunctive of regular -ar verbs, including the spelling changes that keep the sound consistent.
- Presente do Subjuntivo: Irregular VerbsA2 — The irregular present subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese — most forms come from the 1sg present indicative, plus six truly suppletive verbs to memorize.