The imperative is a verb mood used to give a command, either affirmative (Go!) or negative (Don't go!).

The Spanish imperative exists for 5 different grammatical people: tú, Ud., nosotros, vosotros, and Uds.

Espera a tu hermano.		Wait for your brother.
No escriba en su libro.		Don't write in your book.
Hablemos de otra cosa.		Let's talk about something else.
¡No gritéis!		Don't shout!
Contesten las preguntas.		Answer the questions.

Conjugations

The imperative for all commands for Ud., Uds., and nosotros and for negative commands for tú and vosotros are formed as follows:

Regular -AR verbs: Take the present tense of the verb and change the A at the beginning of the suffix to E.

Present tense		Imperative(s)
tú estudias		no estudies
Ud. estudia		estudie, no estudie
nosotros estudiamos		estudiemos, no estudiemos
vosotros estudiáis		no estudiéis
Uds. estudian		estudien, no estudien

Regular -ER verbs: Change the E at the beginning of the suffix to A.

tú bebes		no bebas
Ud. bebe		beba, no beba
nosotros bebemos		bebamos, no bebamos
vosotros bebéis		no bebáis
Uds. beben		beban, no beban

Regular -IR verbs:

• For tú, Ud., and Uds., change the E at the beginning of the suffix to A.
• Nosotros: Change the I at the beginning of the suffix to A.
• Vosotros: Change Í to ÁI.

tú abres		no abras
Ud. abre		abra, no abra
nosotros abrimos		abramos, no abramos
vosotros abrís		no abráis
Uds. abren		abran, no abran

Notes:

• The imperative endings for -ER and -IR verbs are identical.
• Spanish imperative conjugations are the same as subjunctive conjugations.

Affirmative commands with tú and vosotros are conjugated a bit differently.

• Tú: Take the present tense and drop the final S: estudias --> estudia, bebes --> bebe, abres --> abre.
• Vosotros: Take the infinitive and replace the final R with a D: estudiar --> estudiad, beber --> bebed, abrir --> abrid.

Imperative with Object Pronouns     Indirect Commands

More Verb Lessons      Spanish for Beginners

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