Question 1

Why do both of these -ar verbs end in -éis? Shouldn't they end in -áis?

Accepted Answer

If they were normal present tense verbs, they would end in -áis. But for NEGATIVE commands (telling someone NOT to do something), Spanish uses a different set of endings where the vowels swap. So, -ar verbs like tocar and estropear swap their "a" for an "e" and take the ending -éis for vosotros.

Question 2

Why is it toquéis with a "qu" instead of a "c"?

Accepted Answer

The verb is tocar. If we just added the negative command ending -éis to the root toc-, we would get tocéis. In Spanish, a "c" before an "e" makes a soft sound (like an "s" or "th"). To keep the hard "k" sound of tocar, spelling rules require us to change the "c" to "qu", giving us toquéis.

Question 3

Why does estropeéis have two "e"s in a row?

Accepted Answer

It comes from the verb estropear (to ruin or spoil). To form this negative command, you drop the -ar to get the stem estrope-, and then add the negative vosotros ending -éis. Putting them together creates estropeéis. It looks a bit strange, but it follows the exact same rule as any other -ar verb!

Question 4

The English translation says "or ruin", so why does the Spanish sentence use ni instead of o?

Accepted Answer

Because the sentence starts with a negative (No toquéis). In Spanish, when you link options in a negative sentence (like "Don't do this OR that"), you must use ni instead of o. It translates more literally to "nor", so the Spanish phrasing is basically "Don't touch the canvas, nor ruin the painting."

No toquéis el lienzo ni estropeéis la pintura.

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