Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¡No gatees cerca de la escalera!

Because this is a negative command telling someone not to do something. For negative tú commands, regular -ar verbs like gatear (to crawl) swap their usual -as ending for an -es ending. While tú gateas means you crawl, ¡no gatees! means do not crawl!

Is the verb gatear related to the word gato?

Yes! Gatear literally comes from gato (cat). Just like cats walk on all fours, gatear means to crawl. It is very commonly used when talking about babies crawling.

Why do we need the word de after cerca?

In Spanish, cerca means close or near. However, when you want to specify exactly what something is near to, you must use the connecting phrase cerca de. You cannot just say cerca la escalera; it always has to link to the noun with de.

The English translation says stairs (plural), but the Spanish uses la escalera (singular). Why is that?