Imperative: Complete Guide

The Spanish imperative is the mood you use to give commands, instructions, suggestions, and advice. It's formed differently for every grammatical person, and half of its forms are borrowed from the subjunctive. This guide brings together all the pieces — every person, every irregular, every pronoun rule, and every polite alternative — into one complete reference.

The first thing to know: the imperative only has its "own" form for the affirmative tú (and the affirmative vos, in voseo regions). Every other form is taken from the present subjunctive. Once you accept this, the whole system becomes much easier.

The Overall Shape

Only tú and vos affirmative need to be learned separately. Everything else is identical to the present subjunctive of the same verb.

1. Affirmative Tú — Regular

For most verbs, the affirmative tú command is identical to the third person singular of the present indicative. In practical terms: take the infinitive, drop the -r, and use the -a / -e / -e vowel that matches the verb class.

Stem changes are preserved (cerrar → cierra, volver → vuelve), because the form is literally the indicative 3rd singular. See regular tú affirmative.

2. Affirmative Tú — The Eight Irregulars

Eight common verbs have shortened, irregular affirmative tú commands. Every learner needs these by heart.

Note the accent on sé — it's a diacritical mark that distinguishes the command of ser from the pronoun se. See irregular tú affirmative.

3. Negative Tú — Always the Subjunctive

The negative tú command is simply the present subjunctive tú form, preceded by no. There are no irregulars unique to the imperative here — any irregular comes from the subjunctive.

See negative tú.

4. Usted and Ustedes — Both Directions from the Subjunctive

Usted and ustedes commands are always the present subjunctive, both affirmative and negative. This is the polite (usted) and standard plural (ustedes — which is also the only plural "you" in Latin America) form.

In Latin America, there is no vosotros, so ustedes covers both formal and informal plural. Don't look for vosotros forms here.

See usted commands and ustedes commands.

5. Nosotros Commands ("Let's...")

The nosotros command translates as "let's...". Both affirmative and negative use the nosotros subjunctive:

Ir is special: the affirmative "let's go" is vamos, not vayamos. But the negative keeps vayamos: no vayamos.

The vamos a + infinitive alternative

In everyday speech, vamos a + infinitive is an extremely common stand-in for the nosotros command:

This feels lighter and more invitational than the subjunctive form. Both are correct; the vamos-a version is much more frequent in casual Latin American speech. See nosotros commands.

6. Vos Commands (Voseo Regions)

In voseo-using regions (Argentina, Uruguay, much of Central America), vos replaces tú and has its own affirmative command: take the infinitive, drop the -r, and put the stress on the last syllable with a written accent.

The negative vos command usually takes the subjunctive tú form (no hables, no vengas), though in Rioplatense Spanish you may hear no hablés, no vengás with final stress. See vos commands and the broader voseo reference.

7. Pronoun Placement

This is where most students lose points. The rules depend on whether the command is affirmative or negative.

Affirmative — attached to the end

Object and reflexive pronouns attach directly to the end of the verb, forming a single written word:

Negative — before the verb

In negative commands, the pronouns go before the verb as separate words:

Note the asterisk: the *nosotros affirmative reflexive drops the final -s of -mos before attaching nos — levantemos + nos → levantémonos. Similarly vámonos = "let's go (ourselves)".

See pronouns with affirmative commands and pronouns with negative commands.

8. Accents When Attaching Pronouns

When you attach pronouns to an affirmative command, the word grows longer, and you usually need a written accent to keep the stress in the same place.

The rule: add the pronouns, then check whether the stressed syllable is now more than two syllables from the end. If so, write the accent. See accent marks with pronouns and written accent marks.

9. Indirect Commands (que + subjunctive)

To tell someone that a third party should do something ("Let him go", "Have her call me"), Spanish uses que + present subjunctive:

This construction is also how you give good-wishes commands: que te vaya bien, que te diviertas, que duermas bien. Pronouns precede the subjunctive, just like in any subordinate clause. See indirect commands.

10. Softened Commands

Direct imperatives can sound abrupt. Spanish has many ways to soften them — you'll hear these constantly, especially in service contexts.

In most service settings in Latin America, a polite usted command with por favor is already considered respectful: Pase, por favor. / Dígame. See softened requests and alternatives to the imperative.

11. Big Master Table

12. Putting It Together

Summary

• The affirmative tú command has its own form (3rd sg. indicative) plus eight irregulars: ven, di, sal, haz, ten, ve, pon, sé.
• All other commands — negative tú, usted, ustedes, nosotros, and the negative of vos — come from the present subjunctive.
• Vos affirmative takes the infinitive minus -r, with a final stress.
• Pronouns attach to the end of affirmative commands (with accents as needed) and go before negative commands.
• Indirect commands use que
  • subjunctive to tell a third party to act.
• Softened commands use por favor, conditionals, and modal verbs to sound polite.
• In Latin America there is no vosotros — ustedes is the only plural "you".
• For "let's", use the nosotros subjunctive or the ever-popular vamos a + infinitive.

With these pieces in hand, you can issue any command you want in any register, from a blunt ¡Sal! to a soft ¿Podría darme un momento, por favor?