Voseo: Commands

Vos commands are some of the easiest forms in all of Spanish. The rule for affirmative commands is almost absurdly simple, and the irregular list that plagues learners of tú commands largely disappears.

The Affirmative Command Rule

To form an affirmative vos command, take the infinitive, drop the final -r, and add an accent on the last vowel.

• hablar → hablá
• comer → comé
• vivir → viví
• mirar → mirá
• escribir → escribí
• bailar → bailá

That's it. No stem changes, no special endings, no memorizing a list.

Notice how the notoriously irregular tú commands (ven, di, haz, pon, sal, ten) all follow the normal rule in voseo: vení, decí, hacé, poné, salí, tené.

The Two Real Irregulars

Two verbs have genuinely irregular affirmative vos commands:

• ir → andá (the form í is almost never used; speakers just say andá, from andar)
• ser → sé

You could in theory argue for others, but in practice these are the ones you need to know.

Negative Commands

Here is where vos borrows from tú. In most voseo regions, negative commands use the tú form, not a separate vos form. This means you get a slightly strange-feeling split: affirmative from vos, negative from tú.

In some Central American varieties you will hear fully voseo-based negative commands (no hablés, no comás), but the mixed pattern is the most widely taught standard, especially in Argentina and Uruguay.

Attached Pronouns

Pronouns attach to affirmative commands exactly as in standard Spanish. Because the last syllable of the command is already stressed, you often need to keep the written accent when a pronoun is added.

• dar + me + lo → dámelo (tú) / dámelo (vos — same because dá is monosyllabic)
• decir + me → decime (vos)
• comprar + lo → comprálo (vos)
• levantar + te → levantate (vos — stress stays on -tá-, accent drops because it becomes a regular paroxytone)