Questions & Answers about Lava la lechuga con agua.
Why does the command for wash look like the he/she form lava instead of the you form lavas?
When you give a positive command to someone you call tú, you simply drop the final s from the normal tú present tense form. So lavas (you wash) becomes the command lava (wash!). This means it looks exactly the same as the he/she/it present tense form, but context tells us it is an instruction.
How would I change this sentence to politely instruct someone I address as usted?
Can I just add no in front of lava to tell someone not to wash the lettuce?
No, negative commands follow different rules in Spanish! To say don't wash to tú, you actually have to swap the vowel and keep the s, making it No laves la lechuga. For this lesson, we are just focusing on the affirmative (positive) commands.
I remember learning the phrase el agua. Why doesn't the sentence say con el agua?