Irregular Negative Informal Commands
Many negative tú commands build on the present tense yo form of the verb. If the yo form is irregular (like tengo or hago), you use that same stem for the negative command, adding the opposite vowel ending:
- tener (to have) → yo tengo → no tengas
- hacer (to do/make) → yo hago → no hagas
- poner (to put) → yo pongo → no pongas
- decir (to tell/say) → yo digo → no digas
| Don't have a public profile. | No tengas un perfil público. |
| Don't make your profile public. | No hagas público tu perfil. |
| Don't say anything private to anyone. | No le digas nada privado a nadie. |
Stem-changing verbs keep their vowel changes (like e to ie) in the negative command:
| Don't lose that follower. | No pierdas a ese seguidor. |
| Don't think that link is good. | No pienses que ese enlace es bueno. |
If a verb ends in -zar, remember to change the z to a c before adding -es to maintain the same pronunciation:
| Don't start posting on the social network. | No empieces a publicar en la red social. |
Finally, a few common verbs have highly irregular negative commands that just have to be memorized:
| Infinitive | Negative tú Command |
|---|---|
| ir (to go) | no vayas |
| dar (to give) | no des |
| estar (to be) | no estés |
| ser (to be) | no seas |
| Don't go to that fake link. | No vayas a ese enlace falso. |
| Don't give the password to anyone. | No le des la contraseña a nadie. |
| Don't be on that social network if it's public. | No estés en esa red social si es pública. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io