To tell a friend not to do something in Spanish, you cannot just put no in front of the affirmative imperative. The affirmative tú command (habla, come, vive) is not used in the negative — you need a different form. This page covers that form, which turns out to be one of the cleanest, most regular pieces of Spanish grammar: it is always no plus the 2nd-singular present subjunctive, with no exceptions.
The rule
The negative tú imperative = no + 2nd-singular present subjunctive.
That's it. There are no special endings, no irregularity beyond what the present subjunctive already carries, and no register variation. The rule applies to -ar, -er and -ir verbs, regular and irregular alike. Every negative tú command in the language follows this single pattern.
| Infinitive | Affirmative tú | Negative tú |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | habla | no hables |
| comer | come | no comas |
| vivir | vive | no vivas |
| trabajar | trabaja | no trabajes |
| beber | bebe | no bebas |
| escribir | escribe | no escribas |
| llamar | llama | no llames |
| leer | lee | no leas |
| abrir | abre | no abras |
Notice that for every verb in the table the affirmative and negative forms look like opposites of the same shape: -ar verbs that end in -a affirmative end in -es negative; -er/-ir verbs that end in -e affirmative end in -as negative. This vowel switch is the signature of the present-subjunctive paradigm — its "opposite endings" — and it gives the negative imperative its characteristic feel.
All eight irregulars are regular here
The eight famous irregular tú affirmative imperatives (di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven) do not carry their irregularity into the negative. The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive, which is built from the yo-form of the indicative, not from the short imperative form. So:
| Infinitive | Affirmative tú | Negative tú |
|---|---|---|
| decir | di | no digas |
| hacer | haz | no hagas |
| ir | ve | no vayas |
| poner | pon | no pongas |
| salir | sal | no salgas |
| ser | sé | no seas |
| tener | ten | no tengas |
| venir | ven | no vengas |
This is one of the moments where the negative imperative is actually easier than the affirmative — once you know the present subjunctive, you know every negative command. The price you paid in memorising eight short forms for the affirmative is refunded here.
No digas tonterías, ya sabes que eso no es verdad.
Don't talk nonsense, you know that's not true.
No hagas ruido, los niños están durmiendo.
Don't make noise, the kids are sleeping.
No vayas tan rápido, este tramo está lleno de baches.
Don't go so fast, this stretch is full of potholes.
Stem-changing and spelling-change verbs
Stem changes from the present subjunctive carry over into the negative imperative. That means:
- Cerrar (e → ie) → no cierres.
- Volver (o → ue) → no vuelvas.
- Pedir (e → i) → no pidas.
- Dormir (o → ue / o → u) → no duermas.
Spelling-change verbs preserve the soft consonant sound from the infinitive by switching letters before the new vowel:
- Sacar → no saques (c → qu before e).
- Pagar → no pagues (g → gu before e).
- Empezar → no empieces (z → c before e).
- Coger → no cojas (g → j before a).
- Seguir → no sigas (gu → g before a).
These are the same spelling changes you meet in the yo preterite of these verbs and in the entire present subjunctive — they are not a new layer to learn.
No empieces a cocinar todavía, llegamos en quince minutos.
Don't start cooking yet, we'll be there in fifteen minutes.
No cojas el metro a estas horas, ve mejor en bici.
Don't take the metro at this time, go by bike instead.
Pronoun placement: the flip from affirmative
The most error-prone aspect of the negative imperative for English speakers is pronoun placement, because it works exactly opposite to the affirmative:
- Affirmative: pronouns attach to the end → háblame, cómelo, escríbenos.
- Negative: pronouns precede the verb as separate words → no me hables, no lo comas, no nos escribas.
Few major European languages make the pronoun do this 180-degree dance based on polarity alone. English does nothing comparable. French shows a similar — though less extreme — flip (parle-moi but ne me parle pas), and Italian patterns roughly with Spanish (parlami but non mi parlare / non parlarmi). Among the Romance languages, Spanish is the one that drills the flip into learners hardest, because the surrounding vowel changes (subjunctive endings) make the negative form feel like a different verb.
| Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|
| háblame | no me hables |
| dímelo | no me lo digas |
| cómpratelo | no te lo compres |
| levántate | no te levantes |
| siéntate | no te sientes |
| vete | no te vayas |
No te vayas todavía, quédate al menos para el postre.
Don't leave yet, stay at least for dessert.
No me lo digas más, ya lo he entendido a la primera.
Don't tell me again, I got it the first time.
No te preocupes, todo va a salir bien.
Don't worry, it's all going to be fine.
Why English speakers find this so hard
In English, "don't speak" is just "do not" + the bare verb — the same verb form that appears in the affirmative. The Spanish equivalent uses a completely different form: not the affirmative imperative negated, but the present subjunctive prefaced by no.
This produces the single most common beginner error: no habla for "don't speak (to one friend)". The sentence no habla is in fact a perfectly grammatical Spanish utterance — but it means "he/she/usted doesn't speak", an indicative statement, not a command. To tell a friend not to speak, you need no hables.
The same trap appears with every verb:
- "Don't eat that" → not no come eso (= "he doesn't eat that") but no comas eso.
- "Don't write to him" → not no le escribe but no le escribas.
- "Don't open it" → not no lo abre but no lo abras.
Register
The negative tú imperative covers the full register range. Used between friends and family it is entirely neutral — there is no "harsher" or "softer" command form to choose from at the tú level. Softening, if you want it, comes from the surrounding context: a tag like anda or por favor, a question form (¿podrías no…?), or the addition of an explanation (no me hables así, que me duele).
No me hables en ese tono, por favor, que no soy tu enemigo.
Don't speak to me in that tone, please, I'm not your enemy.
No te enfades conmigo, anda, que no era mi intención.
Don't get angry with me, come on, I didn't mean to.
No bebas más, que mañana tenemos que conducir.
Don't drink any more, we have to drive tomorrow.
Reflexive verbs
Reflexive negative imperatives follow the same pattern: no + reflexive pronoun + present subjunctive. The pronoun stands as a separate word, in front of the verb.
| Infinitive | Affirmative tú | Negative tú |
|---|---|---|
| levantarse | levántate | no te levantes |
| sentarse | siéntate | no te sientes |
| irse | vete | no te vayas |
| ponerse | ponte | no te pongas |
| quedarse | quédate | no te quedes |
| preocuparse | preocúpate | no te preocupes |
The mismatch between levántate (one word) and no te levantes (three words) is jarring at first but becomes second nature with practice. Drill it on the highest-frequency verbs first: no te preocupes, no te vayas, no te enfades will carry you through most of conversational life.
Que as an alternative softener
Spanish also uses que + present subjunctive as a kind of distanced command, often translated as a softer "make sure you don't…" or "may you not…":
- Que no te olvides de llamar — make sure you don't forget to call.
- Que no se entere tu madre — don't let your mother find out.
This is the same form as the negative imperative without the no-fronted polarity; the que signals reported or hortative force. It is common in everyday peninsular speech and you should recognise it, though for direct commands the plain no + subjunctive is more frequent.
Common Mistakes
❌ No habla con él, te va a hacer daño.
Incorrect as a command — this is the indicative 'he doesn't speak with him'. The negative tú imperative needs the subjunctive form hables.
✅ No hables con él, te va a hacer daño.
Don't talk to him, he's going to hurt you.
❌ No come tan rápido, te va a sentar mal.
Incorrect — indicative comes instead of subjunctive comas.
✅ No comas tan rápido, te va a sentar mal.
Don't eat so fast, it's going to upset your stomach.
❌ No te vas todavía.
Incorrect — indicative vas instead of subjunctive vayas.
✅ No te vayas todavía.
Don't go yet.
❌ No dígame eso.
Incorrect — the pronoun is attached to the verb, which is only allowed in the affirmative. The negative requires a separate, fronted pronoun.
✅ No me diga eso.
Don't tell me that. (usted; same point applies to tú: no me digas eso)
❌ No háblame así.
Incorrect — the pronoun is attached to the verb in the negative, which is ungrammatical.
✅ No me hables así.
Don't speak to me like that.
❌ No sé tonto, ven con nosotros.
Incorrect — the affirmative short imperative sé cannot be used negated. Use the subjunctive seas.
✅ No seas tonto, ven con nosotros.
Don't be silly, come with us.
Key Takeaways
- Every negative tú command in Spanish = no
- 2nd-singular present subjunctive. No exceptions.
- The eight irregular short imperatives (di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven) are not used in the negative; their subjunctive forms (no digas, no hagas, no vayas, etc.) take over completely.
- Pronoun placement flips between affirmative and negative: attached after háblame, separate before no me hables. This is the single biggest pitfall for English speakers.
- "Don't speak" is no hables, never no habla. The latter is a perfectly good indicative sentence ("he doesn't speak") and therefore the wrong form for a command.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Imperativo afirmativo de tú: regularA1 — The simplest of all Spanish imperatives — for regular verbs the affirmative tú command is identical to the 3rd-person singular present indicative.
- Imperativo afirmativo de tú: irregularesA2 — The eight famous monosyllabic tú commands — di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven — that every Spanish learner must memorise.
- 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.
- Pronombres con el imperativo negativoA2 — In negative commands, pronouns detach from the verb and move in front of it as separate words — no me lo digas, no te levantes, no os preocupéis.
- 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.