Imperative in Spanish Grammar

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What is the Imperative in Spanish Grammar?

The Imperative (el imperativo) expresses demands, orders and requests addressed to one or more people directly.

There are different conjugations for the tú, usted, ustedes, nosotros and vosotros forms as well as different forms for affirmative and negative.

Learn about the imperative in Spanish grammar with Lingolia. Master the conjugation of all verb types and forms then test your grammar skills in the interactive exercises.

Example

¡Equipo! Quiero abrir una tienda de comida casera en el sur de la ciudad y necesito vuestra ayuda.

Josep, piensa un nombre para la tienda y crea un perfil en las redes sociales. Si no se te ocurre nada, busca cuentas de otras tiendas y mira cómo lo han hecho.

Miguel, haz un calendario para las publicaciones con ofertas y fotos que atraigan nuevos clientes.

Cuando tengáis eso listo, por favor, cread una lista de platos fáciles de preparar y con ingredientes de temporada.

Por ahora, no hablemos del presupuesto, por favor, aún estoy buscando patrocinadores.

Josep, ven a verme luego a mi despacho. Quiero hablar sobre tu plan de vacaciones.

When to use the Spanish imperative

Use the Spanish imperative to:

  • give orders or make requests
    Examples:
    Piensa un nombre para la tienda.Think about a name for the shop.
    Crea un perfil en las redes sociales.Create a social media profile.
  • make suggestions or give advice
    Example:
    Si no se te ocurre nada, busca cuentas de otras tiendas.If you can’t think of anything, look at accounts from other shops.

¡Por favor!

The imperative is direct and you can risk sounding impolite depending on the context. That’s why it’s advisable to always use por favor (= please) or other courteous phrases to avoid sounding rude.

Example:
Por ahora, no hablemos del presupuesto, por favor, aún estoy buscando patrocinadores.Let’s not talk about the budget for now, I’m still looking for sponsors.

How to conjugate the imperative in Spanish

The imperative can only be conjugated in the following forms:

  • 2nd person singular (tú)
  • 1st person plural (nosotros/-as)
  • 2nd person plural (vosotros/-as)
  • the polite forms (usted, ustedes).

The way we conjugate the Spanish imperative is different for each form and changes depending on whether the imperative is affirmative or negative.

We do not use personal pronouns in the imperative.

Read on to learn how to conjugate the imperative for each form.

2nd person singular: tú

In the 2nd person singular (tú), the affirmative imperative is the same as the 3rd person singular present indicative.

Examples:
hablar → hablaspeak
aprender → aprendelearn
escribir → escribewrite
3rd person singular present indicative: él habla, aprende, escribe

The negative imperative is the same as the 2nd person singular of the present subjunctive.

Examples:
hablar → no hablesdon’t talk
aprender → no aprendasdon’t learn
escribir → no escribasdon’t write
2nd person singular present subjunctive: tú hables, aprendas, escribas

Irregular verbs

The following verbs are irregular in 2nd person singular of the affirmative imperative.

Infinitive Imperative Examples
decir di Di tu opinión.Say your opinion.
hacer haz Haz un calendario de publicaciones.Make a publication schedule.
ir ve Ve a la sala de reuniones.Go to the meeting room.
poner pon Pon tu nombre en la comida de la nevera.Put your name on the food in the fridge.
salir sal Sal sin hacer ruido.Leave without making noise.
ser sé Sé puntual.Be on time.
tener ten Ten en cuenta los ingredientes de temporada.Keep the seasonal ingredients in mind.
venir ven Ven a mi despacho luego.Come to my office later.

1st person plural: nosotros/-as

The imperative of the 1st person plural (nosotros/-as) is the same as the present subjunctive form in both the affirmative and the negative.

Examples:
hablar → hablemos / no hablemoslet’s (not) speak
aprender → aprendamos / no aprendamoslet’s (not) learn
escribir → escribamos / no escribamoslet’s (not) write
1st person plural present subjunctive: nosotros hablemos, aprendamos, escribamos

2nd person plural: vosotros/-as

To form the affirmative imperative of the 2nd person plural (vosotros/-as), take the infinitive of the verb and replace the final -r with a -d.

Examples:
hablar → habladspeak
aprender → aprendedlearn
escribir → escribidwrite

For the negative imperative, simply take the 2nd person plural of the present subjunctive.

Examples:
hablar → no habléisdon’t speak
aprender → no aprendáisdon’t learn
escribir → no escribáisdon’t write
2nd person plural of the present subjunctive: vosotros habléis, aprendáis, escribáis

Polite form in the singular: usted

The imperative for the polite form usted is the same as its present subjunctive form in both the affirmative and the negative.

Examples:
hablar → hable / no hable(don’t) speak
aprender → aprenda / no aprenda(don’t) learn
escribir → escriba / no escriba(don’t) write
3rd person singular present subjunctive: él hable, aprenda, escriba

Polite form in the plural: ustedes

The imperative for the polite form ustedes is the same as its present subjunctive form in both the affirmative and the negative.

Examples:
hablar → hablen / no hablen(don’t) speak
aprender → aprendan / no aprendan(don’t) learn
escribir → escriban / no escriban(don’t) write
3rd person plural of the present subjunctive: ellos hablen, aprendan, escriban

Reflexive verbs in the imperative

Affirmative form

The affirmative form of the imperative for reflexive verbs is conjugated by adding the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) to the end of the conjugated verb.

Example:
levantarse → levántateget up

When conjugating a reflexive verb in the imperative, we have to:

  • omit the -s in the 1st person plural (nosotros/-as)
    Example:
    quedarse → Quedémonos a comer en la oficina.Let’s stay in the office to eat.
    not: Quedémosnos
  • omit the -d in the 2nd person plural (vosotros/-as)
    Example:
    quedarse → Quedaos a comer con nosotroas.Stay and eat with us.
    not: Quedados

Idos or iros?

The imperative of the verb irse is a source of much debate in Spanish.

According to the rule, the imperative of the 2nd person plural (vosotros) should lose the final -d before the reflexive pronoun is added. However, the verb irse is an exception as it’s so short.

The Real Academia Española (RAE) therefore officially recommends idos:

irse:
id + os = idos

In colloquial language, it’s common to also hear iros, which the RAE also accepts as valid.

Negative imperative

The negative imperative of reflexive verbs is formed by using no + reflexive pronoun + imperative.

Examples:
tú → No te preocupes.Don’t worry.
nosotros/-as → No nos preocupemos.Let’s not worry.
vosotros/-as → No os preocupéis.Don’t worry.
usted → No se preocupe.Don’t worry.
ustedes → No se preocupen.Don’t worry.

Imperative with CD and CI

Sometimes a direct (CD) or indirect (CI) object appears together with a verb in the imperative.

Affirmative imperative with CD and CI

The object pronouns are attached to the end of the imperative verb. The indirect object pronoun always comes before the direct object pronoun.

Examples:
Envía el informe por correo. → Envíalo por correo.Send the report by post. → Send it by post.
imperative + direct object pronoun
Envía el informe a la jefa. → Envíale el informe.Send the report to the boss. → Send the report to her.
imperative + indirect object pronoun + direct object
Envía el informe a la jefa. → Envíaselo.Send it to her.
imperative + indirect object pronoun + direct object pronoun

Negative imperative with CD and CI

In the negative imperative, the object pronouns come before the verb: no + indirect object pronoun + direct object pronoun + imperative. Here too the indirect-before-direct rule applies.

Examples:
No envíes el informe todavía. → No lo envíes todavía.Don’t send the report yet. → Don’t send it yet.
No envíes el informe a la jefa todavía. → No le envíes el informe todavía.Don’t send the report to the boss yet. → Don’t send the report to her yet.
No envíes el informe a la jefa todavía. → No se lo envíes.Don’t send the report to the boss yet. → Don’t send it to her yet.

Reflexive verbs + CD

If the verb is reflexive, we attach the reflexive pronoun to the end of the affirmative imperative, followed by the direct object pronoun.

Example:
Prepárate un café. → Prepáratelo.Make yourself a coffee. → Make yourself one.
verb + reflexive pronoun + direct object pronoun

In the negative imperative, the reflexive pronoun comes before the verb along with any object pronouns: no + reflexive pronoun + direct object pronoun + verb in imperative.

Examples:
No te prepares un café. → No te lo prepares.Don’t make yourself a coffee. Don’t make it yourself.
no + reflexive pronoun + direct object pronoun + verb

Watch out for accents!

Whenever we attach an object pronoun to a verb in the imperative, we have to check the resulting word to see if it now requires an accent.

Example:
Piensa un nombre para la tienda. → Piénsalo.Think about a name for the shop. → Think about it.
the stress of the resulting word falls on the third-to-last syllable (palabra esdrújula) so it now requires an accent
but:
Haz un calendario de publicaciones. → Hazlo.Make a publication schedule. → Make it.
the stress of the resulting word falls on the penultimate syllable (palabra llana) and it ends in a vowel so does not need an accent

→ Head over to our Spanish-language section to revise accent rules in Spanish grammar.

The infinitive in place of the imperative

In colloquial language and everyday situations, a + infinitive is often used with the same meaning as the 2nd person imperative.

Examples:
¡Corre! → ¡A correr!Go!
¡Trabajad! → ¡A trabajar!Work!