The negative vosotros imperative is the form you use to tell two or more people not to do something, when you'd address them informally as vosotros. Unlike its affirmative counterpart (¡hablad!), which is built off the infinitive, the negative form is built off the present subjunctive: ¡no habléis!, ¡no comáis!, ¡no viváis! This is the first place where Spanish learners typically meet the present subjunctive doing real, everyday work in peninsular speech — and once you know this form, you've quietly learned the vosotros present subjunctive too, because they're literally the same thing.
The rule: no + present subjunctive
To form the negative vosotros imperative, take the 2nd-person plural form of the present subjunctive and put no in front of it. The subjunctive endings for the vosotros person are -éis (for -ar verbs) and -áis (for -er and -ir verbs). The accent is not decorative — it is grammatically obligatory and distinguishes the subjunctive from other forms.
| Infinitive | Affirmative (¡hablad!) | Negative (¡no habléis!) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| hablar | hablad | no habléis | don't speak! |
| trabajar | trabajad | no trabajéis | don't work! |
| cantar | cantad | no cantéis | don't sing! |
| comer | comed | no comáis | don't eat! |
| beber | bebed | no bebáis | don't drink! |
| vivir | vivid | no viváis | don't live! |
| escribir | escribid | no escribáis | don't write! |
No habléis tan alto, los vecinos están durmiendo.
Don't talk so loud, the neighbors are sleeping.
No comáis nada antes de la cena, vamos a un sitio especial.
Don't eat anything before dinner, we're going somewhere special.
No escribáis con bolígrafo rojo, queda fatal.
Don't write in red pen, it looks terrible.
Why the negative is subjunctive
The deep reason for the affirmative–negative split is logical, not arbitrary. An affirmative command (¡habla!, ¡hablad!) takes a direct, performative form because you're trying to make the action happen — the verb is being used to push the action into reality. A negative command, by contrast, is asking that the action not happen — that it stay unrealized. Spanish treats unrealized actions as subjunctive territory by default (compare quiero que vengas — I want you to come, where the coming hasn't happened yet), so it pulls the negative imperative into the subjunctive paradigm.
This is also why no + the affirmative form doesn't work. You cannot say no hablad — that pattern doesn't exist in Spanish. The only way to negate a vosotros command is to switch to the subjunctive.
No vayáis por esa calle, hay obras y no se puede pasar.
Don't go down that street, there's construction and you can't get through.
No seáis tan exigentes con vuestros hijos, son pequeños todavía.
Don't be so demanding with your children, they're still young.
Irregulars: the same ones as the subjunctive
Because the negative vosotros imperative is just the present subjunctive in disguise, every irregularity of the present subjunctive shows up here. The famous yo-go verbs (tener, poner, salir, hacer, venir, decir, oír) carry their -g- stem all the way through the subjunctive, including vosotros: tengáis, pongáis, salgáis, hagáis, vengáis, digáis, oigáis. Verbs with completely irregular subjunctive stems behave the same way.
| Infinitive | Negative vosotros imperative | English |
|---|---|---|
| tener | no tengáis | don't have! |
| poner | no pongáis | don't put! |
| hacer | no hagáis | don't do! |
| venir | no vengáis | don't come! |
| decir | no digáis | don't say! |
| salir | no salgáis | don't leave! |
| ir | no vayáis | don't go! |
| ser | no seáis | don't be! |
| estar | no estéis | don't be (location/state)! |
| dar | no deis | don't give! |
| saber | no sepáis | don't know! |
| haber | no hayáis | don't have (aux)! |
No vayáis al cine esta noche, la película es malísima.
Don't go to the movies tonight, the film is awful.
No digáis tonterías, sabéis perfectamente lo que pasó.
Don't talk nonsense, you know perfectly well what happened.
No seáis impacientes, las cosas llevan su tiempo.
Don't be impatient, these things take time.
Stem-changing verbs
Verbs that change their stem in the present indicative (like dormir → duermo, pedir → pido) behave consistently with subjunctive rules: -ir stem-changers carry the change into the vosotros form, while -ar and -er stem-changers do not.
| Infinitive | Type | Negative vosotros imperative |
|---|---|---|
| pensar | -ar, e→ie | no penséis (no change) |
| contar | -ar, o→ue | no contéis (no change) |
| volver | -er, o→ue | no volváis (no change) |
| dormir | -ir, o→u | no durmáis (change applies) |
| pedir | -ir, e→i | no pidáis (change applies) |
| sentir | -ir, e→i | no sintáis (change applies) |
No volváis tarde, mañana tenéis que madrugar.
Don't come back late, you have to get up early tomorrow.
No durmáis con la ventana abierta, va a hacer frío.
Don't sleep with the window open, it's going to be cold.
No pidáis pizza otra vez, llevamos tres noches con lo mismo.
Don't order pizza again, we've had the same thing for three nights.
Pronoun placement: before the verb
In the negative imperative, pronouns always come before the verb — never attached to the end. This is the exact opposite of the affirmative imperative, where pronouns attach to the back of the verb. Compare:
- Affirmative: ¡Decídmelo! (Tell me!) — pronouns at the end
- Negative: ¡No me lo digáis! (Don't tell me!) — pronouns before
The same rule applies to reflexives. The famous levantaos of the affirmative imperative reverts to no os levantéis in the negative — with the reflexive os sliding back to its normal pre-verbal position.
No os levantéis tan temprano, es domingo.
Don't get up so early, it's Sunday.
No me habléis con ese tono, no os he hecho nada.
Don't speak to me in that tone, I haven't done anything to you.
No se lo digáis a vuestra madre, quiero darle una sorpresa.
Don't tell your mother, I want to surprise her.
Peninsular only — Latin America uses ustedes
This form exists only in Spain. In Latin American Spanish, where vosotros has been completely replaced by ustedes for all plural address, the equivalent command is no hablen, no coman, no vivan. A Mexican or Argentine never uses no habléis in normal speech — it would sound like quoting a Spanish movie. If you're learning Spanish to spend time in Spain, this is one of the highest-payoff forms you can practice: it shows up constantly in parental speech, in instructions to friends, in any group setting where the speaker is on tú-terms with the audience.
No os preocupéis, todo va a salir bien.
Don't worry, everything's going to be fine.
Niños, no juguéis con la comida.
Kids, don't play with your food.
Accents are not optional
The single most common written error with this form is dropping the accent: writing no hableis instead of no habléis, or no comais instead of no comáis. The accent on -áis / -éis is grammatically mandatory because Spanish word-stress rules would otherwise pull the stress to the wrong syllable. Without the accent, the word is misspelled — not just stylistically odd, but actually wrong, the way English "their" is wrong if you meant "there." Texts written without these accents look immediately like learner Spanish or like keyboard-mangled chat messages.
❌ No hableis tan rapido.
Incorrect — missing accents on hableis and rapido.
✅ No habléis tan rápido.
Don't speak so fast.
How this differs from English
English handles negative commands with a simple don't + base verb: "don't speak," "don't eat," "don't worry." There's no separate form, no subjunctive, no agreement with number. Spanish, by contrast, requires you to (1) switch verb form to the subjunctive, (2) match the form to your audience's number and formality (vosotros vs ustedes vs tú), and (3) reposition any pronouns from the back of the verb to the front. That's three simultaneous changes — which is why this form takes practice.
The flip side is that once you have it, you can express subtle relationships English can't. ¡No me habléis así! (informal plural) versus ¡No me hablen así! (formal plural) versus ¡No me hables así! (informal singular) all translate to English's flat "Don't speak to me like that," but each carries a different social signal about who you're addressing.
Common Mistakes
❌ No hablad tan alto.
Incorrect — negative cannot be built off the affirmative form.
✅ No habléis tan alto.
Don't speak so loud.
❌ No levantaos tan temprano.
Incorrect — pronouns must come before in the negative.
✅ No os levantéis tan temprano.
Don't get up so early.
❌ No hableis con la boca llena.
Incorrect — missing the obligatory accent on habléis.
✅ No habléis con la boca llena.
Don't talk with your mouth full.
❌ No vayan vosotros por ahí.
Incorrect — vayan is ustedes; vosotros takes vayáis.
✅ No vayáis vosotros por ahí.
You guys, don't go that way.
❌ No digáismelo todavía.
Incorrect — pronouns don't attach in the negative imperative.
✅ No me lo digáis todavía.
Don't tell me yet.
Key Takeaways
The negative vosotros imperative is no + the 2nd-plural present subjunctive: no habléis, no comáis, no viváis. Its accents are obligatory, its irregulars match the subjunctive's irregulars, and its pronouns sit before the verb (the mirror of the affirmative). It exists only in Spain — Latin Americans say no hablen instead. Internalizing this form does two jobs at once: it gives you a high-frequency command form, and it walks you into the present subjunctive through its most concrete door.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Imperativo afirmativo de vosotros: ¡hablad!A2 — The peninsular affirmative vosotros command — replace the -r of the infinitive with -d, drop the -d before reflexives, and never substitute the infinitive.
- Presente de subjuntivo: verbos regulares en -arB1 — The six present-subjunctive endings for regular -ar verbs in Spain, including the all-important vosotros form habléis.
- Vosotros vs ustedes: el sistema españolA1 — In peninsular Spanish, vosotros is the everyday informal plural "you" — alive and used constantly — while ustedes is reserved for genuine formality. Learn when each is required, what verb endings each takes, and why the Latin American merger does not apply in Spain.
- Imperativo: visión generalA2 — The master map of the Spanish imperative — affirmative and negative commands for tú, vosotros, usted, ustedes and nosotros — with the peninsular vosotros form as its headline feature.
- Imperativo de usted: hable, no hableA2 — The formal singular command in peninsular Spanish — the 3rd-singular present subjunctive for both affirmative and negative, used only in genuinely formal contexts in Spain.