Nosotros Commands (Let's) | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

The nosotros command is how Spanish says "let's..." — "let's eat," "let's go," "let's try something else." It's a soft, inclusive command: the speaker suggests an action and counts themselves in.

This is the friendliest of all the imperatives — instead of telling someone what to do, you're inviting them to do something with you.

The main rule for forming it

The nosotros command is the first-person plural of the present subjunctive. One form works for both affirmative and negative — just toss no in front when you want to say let's not.

Infinitive	Affirmative	Negative
hablar	hablemos	no hablemos
comer	comamos	no comamos
vivir	vivamos	no vivamos
cantar	cantemos	no cantemos
beber	bebamos	no bebamos
escribir	escribamos	no escribamos

Hablemos del tema después del almuerzo.

Let's talk about it after lunch.

Comamos algo rápido antes de salir.

Let's eat something quickly before we go out.

No perdamos más tiempo.

Let's not waste any more time.

Irregular verbs

The usual subjunctive irregulars apply here too. Notice especially the forms of tener, poner, hacer, salir, ser, dar, and estar. If you know the yo form of the present indicative, you can build most of these in your head.

Infinitive	Nosotros command
tener	tengamos
hacer	hagamos
poner	pongamos
salir	salgamos
ser	seamos
estar	estemos
dar	demos
saber	sepamos

Seamos honestos el uno con el otro.

Let's be honest with each other.

Hagamos un plan para el fin de semana.

Let's make a plan for the weekend.

The special case: ir

The verb ir ("to go") is the big exception. For the affirmative nosotros command, Spanish uses vamos (not vayamos). For the negative, it uses the regular subjunctive form no vayamos.

¡Vamos a la playa!

Let's go to the beach!

No vayamos tan tarde, mejor mañana temprano.

Let's not go so late, better tomorrow morning.

The form vayamos does exist, but it sounds very formal in an affirmative command. Everyday Spanish says vamos.

The everyday alternative: vamos a + infinitive

In casual speech, many speakers prefer an even simpler way to say "let's do something": vamos a + infinitive.

Subjunctive form	Vamos a form
Hablemos.	Vamos a hablar.
Comamos.	Vamos a comer.
Veámoslo.	Vamos a verlo.
Salgamos ya.	Vamos a salir ya.

Both options are correct. The vamos a form is lighter and more conversational; the subjunctive form is slightly more emphatic and a bit more formal.

Vamos a cenar en ese restaurante nuevo.

Let's have dinner at that new restaurant.

Vamos a estudiar juntos para el examen.

Let's study together for the exam.

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The vamos a alternative only works for affirmative commands. For "let's not do X," you still need the subjunctive: no hablemos, no comamos, no vayamos.

Pronouns with the nosotros command

When a reflexive or object pronoun attaches to an affirmative nosotros command, the final -s of the verb drops before the pronoun nos or se. This keeps the pronunciation comfortable.

levantemos + nos → levantémonos (not levantemosnos)
digamos + se + lo → digámoselo
vamos + nos → vámonos

Levantémonos temprano mañana.

Let's get up early tomorrow.

Vámonos, ya es muy tarde.

Let's go, it's already very late.

Digámoselo ahora mismo.

Let's tell it to him right now.

For negative nosotros commands, pronouns stay in front as normal:

No nos rindamos ahora.

Let's not give up now.

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For spoken Latin American Spanish, vamos a + infinitive is usually the most natural "let's..." option. Use the subjunctive form when you want to sound a bit more decisive, or when you need the negative.

Quick comparison

Subjunctive	Vamos a	English
Comamos.	Vamos a comer.	Let's eat.
Salgamos.	Vamos a salir.	Let's go out.
Veamos.	Vamos a ver.	Let's see.
Empecemos.	Vamos a empezar.	Let's begin.
Vámonos. (irregular)	Ya nos vamos.	Let's go.

More examples in context

Empecemos por el principio.

Let's start from the beginning.

Tomemos un café antes de la reunión.

Let's have a coffee before the meeting.

No hablemos de eso ahora.

Let's not talk about that now.

Vamos a ver qué pasa.

Let's see what happens.

For the rest of the imperative system, see the imperative overview, ustedes commands, and tú commands.