Ustedes Commands | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

The ustedes command is the one you'll reach for the most when giving instructions to any group of people in Latin America. Unlike Spain, Latin America doesn't use vosotros: ustedes covers both formal ("ladies and gentlemen") and informal ("you guys") plural contexts. One form handles all of it.

This is one of the easiest commands to learn for Latin American Spanish learners precisely because there is no formal/informal split — you just need one form per verb.

The rule

The ustedes command is the third-person plural of the present subjunctive. That same form is used for both affirmative and negative commands — simply add no in front for the negative.

Infinitive	Affirmative	Negative
hablar	hablen	no hablen
comer	coman	no coman
vivir	vivan	no vivan
escribir	escriban	no escriban
correr	corran	no corran
abrir	abran	no abran

Think of it as the usted command plus -n: hable → hablen, coma → coman, viva → vivan.

Formal and informal are the same

In Latin America, whether you would address a group as señores y señoras (formal) or chicos (informal), you still use ustedes — and therefore the same command form. That's one of the ways Latin American Spanish is actually simpler than European Spanish.

Niños, hagan silencio, por favor.

Kids, please be quiet.

Señores pasajeros, abrochen sus cinturones.

Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts.

Irregular and stem-changing verbs

All the usual subjunctive irregulars carry over. If the yo form is irregular, add that irregularity to the -an/-en ending.

Infinitive	Ustedes command
tener	tengan
venir	vengan
hacer	hagan
decir	digan
poner	pongan
salir	salgan
ir	vayan
ser	sean
estar	estén
dar	den
saber	sepan

Stem-changing verbs keep the same stem as the subjunctive: piensen, vuelvan, pidan, duerman.

Examples in context

Tengan paciencia, ya casi llegamos.

Be patient, we're almost there.

Vayan por la escalera de emergencia.

Go through the emergency stairs.

Pongan sus celulares en silencio durante la reunión.

Put your phones on silent during the meeting.

No hagan ruido, el bebé está durmiendo.

Don't make noise, the baby is sleeping.

Piensen antes de responder.

Think before you answer.

A common contrast: tú vs ustedes

Use tú commands when speaking to a single person you would call tú. Use ustedes whenever you're addressing more than one person — friends, strangers, family members, anyone. There's no plural informal in Latin America, so the choice is just singular vs plural, not formal vs informal.

Habla más despacio. (a one person)

Speak more slowly.

Hablen más despacio. (to a group)

Speak more slowly.

Spelling changes

Verbs ending in -car, -gar, -zar change their spelling before -en: busquen, lleguen, empiecen. -Ger and -gir verbs change g to j before -an: escojan, dirijan.

Busquen la palabra en el diccionario.

Look the word up in the dictionary.

Lleguen puntuales a la cita, por favor.

Please arrive on time for the appointment.

Pronouns

Pronouns attach to the end of affirmative ustedes commands and move in front of negative ones. Reflexive verbs use -se:

Affirmative	Negative
Siéntense.	No se sienten.
Háganlo ya.	No lo hagan.
Díganmelo.	No me lo digan.
Levántense.	No se levanten.

Siéntense donde prefieran.

Sit wherever you prefer.

No se olviden de firmar el documento.

Don't forget to sign the document.

A small spelling warning

When you attach a pronoun starting with s- to a verb ending in -n, the sequence -n + se- stays as two syllables and you usually add a written accent: siénten + se → siéntense. Be careful not to lose the accent — without it, the stress shifts to the wrong syllable.

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The ustedes command is literally the usted form plus -n. Learn the usted form first, and the plural comes free.

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If you're ever unsure how to tell a mixed or diverse group of people to do something in Latin America, default to ustedes. It's always appropriate.

Where you will hear it

The ustedes command shows up everywhere in daily life — from teachers addressing students to flight attendants giving safety instructions. Here are a few typical contexts:

Setting	Example
Classroom	Abran sus libros en la página 12.
Restaurant	Pasen por aquí, por favor.
Airplane	Apaguen sus dispositivos electrónicos.
Doctor's office	Esperen su turno en la sala.
Family at home	Vengan a cenar, ya está la comida.

Pasen, por favor, los estamos esperando.

Please come in, we've been waiting for you.

Disfruten la película.

Enjoy the movie.

A note on tone

Even though the ustedes command is grammatically the same in formal and informal contexts, you can soften or sharpen it with adverbs and tags. Por favor, si pueden, con calma all warm it up; a bare command sounds more clipped or businesslike.

For the corresponding singular forms, see usted commands and tú commands. For the broader picture, see the imperative overview.