Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Señora, hable con la contratista y firme aquí, por favor. - Ma’am, speak with the contractor and sign here, please.

For -ar verbs: stem + -e/-en → hablar → hable / hablen
For -er/-ir verbs: stem + -a/-an → comer → coma / coman Here, both verbs are -ar: hablar → hable, firmar → firme. By contrast, informal tú commands would be habla and firma.

How would this sentence change if I were speaking informally to a friend?

Use tú commands:

Habla con la contratista y firma aquí, por favor. Even more casual: add an attention-getter or shorten por favor:
Oye, habla con la contratista y firma aquí, porfa.

What if I’m addressing more than one person?

Use ustedes commands (same in Latin America for formal and informal plural):

Why is there a comma after Señora?

It marks a vocative (direct address). In Spanish, you set off the person you’re addressing with a comma:

Señora, … Also note the capitalization: Señora is capitalized here because it’s the first word of the sentence.

Is Señora always the right choice? What about Señorita, Doña, or using the name?

Señora: neutral, respectful for an adult woman (marital status irrelevant).
Señorita: increasingly avoided; can sound dated or inappropriate.
Doña + first name (e.g., Doña Marta): very respectful/familiar in some regions.
With last names, you can say Señora García. If you already know her name, addressing her by name plus a respectful title is common.

Why is it la contratista? Shouldn’t a female form end in -a and a male in -o?

Nouns ending in -ista are usually gender-common: the article shows the gender of the person:

a woman: la contratista
a man: el contratista Also, in many contexts la contratista can refer to a contractor company (not a person), often treated as feminine because empresa (company) is feminine.

Could/should it be su contratista instead of la contratista?

Use su if you need to specify “your contractor”:

Hable con su contratista… (your contractor) Use la contratista if the contractor is known from context (e.g., the contractor on this project). Spanish often uses the definite article where English would use a possessive.

Why hablar con and not hablar a?

Hablar con = talk with, have a conversation (two-way).
Hablar a = speak to (one-way direction), more common when highlighting who is being addressed or when used with an indirect object pronoun: Háblele a la contratista. In your sentence, con is natural because it implies a conversation.

Do I need a pronoun like le here (e.g., Háblele a la contratista)?

Not with con. You either say:

Hable con la contratista (with) or
Háblele a la contratista (to + indirect object pronoun) Both are correct but use different constructions. Don’t mix them (avoid háblele con).

Where can I put por favor?

Common placements:

End: …, por favor. (your example)
Beginning: Por favor, señora, hable…
Both sides of the command (for extra politeness): Señora, por favor, hable… Always set por favor off with commas if it’s in the middle.

Can I say acá instead of aquí?

Yes. In much of Latin America, aquí and acá are interchangeable in many contexts. Acá can feel a bit more colloquial or regional:

How do I say “Sign it here”?

Attach object pronouns to affirmative commands and keep the stress with an accent:

Masculine object: Fírmelo aquí.
Feminine object: Fírmela aquí.
Plural objects: Fírmelos / Fírmelas aquí. Pronoun order (if two): indirect before direct, e.g., Fírmeme el documento → Fírmemelo.

Is firme ever something else? I’ve seen firme meaning “firm/steady.”

Yes, firme can be:

an adjective: “firm/steady/solid”
the usted command of firmar: “sign” Context disambiguates. Note the noun “signature” is la firma, not firme.

Would Hable con la contratista y firmé aquí be okay?

No. Firmé is the preterite “I signed.” You need the usted command firme:

How do I make it negative?

Use the same usted-subjunctive form and put no before the verb:

Señora, no hable con la contratista y no firme aquí, por favor. You can also link with ni:
… no hable … ni firme …

Can I explicitly say usted?

You can, but it’s usually unnecessary and can sound emphatic:

Neutral: Señora, hable …
Emphatic/contrasty: Señora, usted hable … (e.g., contrasting with someone else)

Are the accents and special letters necessary?

Yes:

Señora must have ñ (not “Senora”).
aquí needs the accent on í.
Command + pronouns often needs a written accent to keep the stress: Fírmelo, Háblele. No accents on hable, firme, contratista, por favor.