In the previous lesson, you learned how to give affirmative commands. However, telling someone not to do something requires a different set of verb endings. For all negative commands, Portuguese uses the present subjunctive mood.
To form a negative command, start with the eu (I) form of the present tense, drop the final -o, and add the "opposite" vowel endings:
- For -ar verbs, use endings with -e
- For -er and -ir verbs, use endings with -a
| Pronoun | -ar Verbs (pisar - eu piso) | -er/-ir Verbs (correr - eu corro) |
|---|
| tu (informal) | não pises | não corras |
| você (formal) | não pise | não corra |
| nós (let's) | não pisemos | não corramos |
| vocês (plural) | não pisem | não corram |
Regular Negative Commands
Let's look at some warnings and rules using regular -ar verbs. Notice how the negative word não always comes directly before the verb.
To say "let's not" do something, use the nós form.
Here is a great example showing the contrast between an affirmative command (which uses the normal vowel) and a negative command (which switches to the opposite vowel):
And here is a warning using a regular -er verb:
Pronouns in Negative Commands
In affirmative commands, object pronouns attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen. In negative commands, negative words like não and nunca (never) act as a magnet. They pull the object pronoun to the front, placing it directly before the verb.
Irregular Verbs
Because negative commands are built from the eu form of the present tense, any spelling changes or irregularities from that form will carry over into the negative command.
For example:
- cair (to fall) → eu caio → não caias
- pôr (to put) → eu ponho → não ponhas
A few verbs are completely irregular and must be memorized. For example, ir (to go) becomes não vás (for tu) or não vá (for você).