Tú: Negative Commands | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

To tell someone you call tú not to do something, Spanish throws away the affirmative form and switches gears entirely. The rule is simple, but it's a big shift from the affirmative.

In other words, "speak!" and "don't speak!" use completely different verb forms in Spanish. The good news: the negative form is just the present subjunctive, which you'll be reusing in many other places.

The rule

Negative tú commands use no + the present subjunctive tú form.

That means:

take the yo form of the present indicative,
drop the -o,
add the "opposite-vowel" ending (-es for -ar verbs, -as for -er / -ir verbs),
put no in front.

Infinitive	Affirmative (tú)	Negative (tú)
hablar	habla	no hables
comer	come	no comas
vivir	vive	no vivas
escribir	escribe	no escribas
trabajar	trabaja	no trabajes
correr	corre	no corras

Affirmative and negative are completely different shapes: habla vs. no hables. There's no shortcut — you have to learn both.

Examples

No hables tan rápido, no te entiendo.

Don't talk so fast, I don't understand you.

No comas tanto azúcar.

Don't eat so much sugar.

No escribas en el libro de texto.

Don't write in the textbook.

No corras en la piscina.

Don't run by the pool.

No abras la ventana, hay mosquitos.

Don't open the window, there are mosquitoes.

Quick comparison: affirmative vs negative

Affirmative	Negative
habla	no hables
come	no comas
vive	no vivas
ven	no vengas
haz	no hagas
pon	no pongas

Irregular verbs

The eight irregular affirmative commands (ven, di, sal, haz, ten, ve, pon, sé) disappear completely in the negative. Use the present subjunctive instead:

Infinitive	Affirmative	Negative
venir	ven	no vengas
decir	di	no digas
salir	sal	no salgas
hacer	haz	no hagas
tener	ten	no tengas
ir	ve	no vayas
poner	pon	no pongas
ser	sé	no seas

If the present subjunctive is irregular for other reasons too, those irregularities carry over: no estés, no des, no sepas, no haya, no vayas.

No vayas sola por esa calle de noche.

Don't go alone down that street at night.

No seas tan duro contigo mismo.

Don't be so hard on yourself.

No me digas mentiras.

Don't tell me lies.

No pongas los pies en el sofá.

Don't put your feet on the couch.

Stem-changing and spelling-changing verbs

Stem changes from the present subjunctive apply here too: no cierres, no pidas, no vuelvas, no duermas. Verbs ending in -car, -gar, -zar get a spelling change to preserve pronunciation: no saques, no pagues, no empieces.

These spelling changes are not new endings — they are the same kind of c → qu, g → gu, z → c shifts you'll see throughout the present subjunctive.

No pidas más postre, ya comiste demasiado.

Don't ask for more dessert, you've already eaten too much.

No empieces sin mí.

Don't start without me.

Pronoun placement flips

This is the big everyday difference you'll feel. In affirmative commands, pronouns attach to the end. In negative commands, they jump back in front of the verb, as separate words. The pronouns themselves don't change — only their position does.

Affirmative	Negative
Dímelo.	No me lo digas.
Levántate.	No te levantes.
Cómpralo.	No lo compres.
Dáselos.	No se los des.

No te preocupes, todo va a estar bien.

Don't worry, everything is going to be fine.

No lo olvides, es muy importante.

Don't forget it, it's very important.

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Think of it as two separate tenses to learn: an "action" form for affirmative commands and a "subjunctive" form for negative commands. They share nothing except the verb they come from.

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A shortcut for negative tú commands: take the usted command and add -s at the end. Hable → no hables. Coma → no comas. Tenga → no tengas.

Common everyday warnings

These are some of the most frequent negative tú commands you'll hear from parents, teachers, and friends in Latin America:

Spanish	English
No te muevas.	Don't move.
No te preocupes.	Don't worry.
No te olvides.	Don't forget.
No me digas.	You don't say. / No way.
No te enojes.	Don't get mad.
No tengas miedo.	Don't be afraid.
No hagas eso.	Don't do that.

No me mientas, dime la verdad.

Don't lie to me, tell me the truth.

No salgas sin abrigo, hace frío.

Don't go out without a coat, it's cold.

For the affirmative side of the picture, see Tú: Regular Affirmative and Tú: Irregular Affirmative. For the broader rules of when to use the present subjunctive, see present subjunctive triggers.