Imperative Commands in Spanish Grammar

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What is the Imperative in Spanish Grammar?

The Imperative (imperativo), also imperative commands, express demands, orders and requests addressed to one or more people directly. There are different conjugations for the tú, usted, ustedes, nosotros and vosotros forms.

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

Example

Pasajero: Paremos un taxi. ¡Taxi!

Conductor: ¡Subid!

Pasajero: ¡Llévanos a la estación!

Conductor: Abrochaos los cinturones.

Pasajero: ¡Listo, vámonos! Pero no conduzcas rápido, por favor.

When to use the imperative in Spanish grammar

We use the imperative to:

    • make suggestions or proposals;
      Example:
      ¡Paremos un taxi!Let’s stop a taxi!
    • give orders;
      Example:
      ¡Subid!Get in!
      ¡Llévanos a la estación!Drive us to the station!
    • give advice;
      Example:
      Si tienes prisa, pide un taxi.If you are in a rush, order a taxi.
    • make requests;
      Example:
      Dime la dirección.Tell me the address.

Verbs in the imperative are often used together with polite phrases such as por favor.

Example:
¡Llévanos a la estación, por favor!Drive us to the station, please.

How to conjugate the imperative in Spanish grammar

The imperative form in Spanish exists for the first person plural (nosotros/-as), the second person (tú, vosotros/-as) and the polite form usted/-es.

The imperative is always conjugated in the present tense without a personal pronoun.

2nd person singular (tú)

The imperative for the 2nd person singular (tú) is actually just the 3rd person singular of the present indicative.

To form a negative imperative, we use the 2nd person singular form of the present subjunctive.

P0ositive Form
Indicative (3rd person singular)		 Negative Form
Subjunctive (2nd person singular)
hablar ¡Habla!Speak! ¡No hables!Don’t speak!
aprender ¡Aprende!Learn! ¡No aprendas!Don’t learn!
escribir ¡Escribe!Write! ¡No escribas!Don’t write!

Irregular imperative forms in the 2nd person singular

Infinitive Imperative Translation
decir di Say!
hacer haz Do/Make ...!
ir ve Go!
poner pon Put ...!
salir sal Go out!
ser sé Be ...!
tener ten Take!
venir ven Come!

2nd person plural (vosotros/vosotras)

To conjugate the positive imperative for the 2nd person plural (vosotros/-as), we take the infinitive and replace the -r with a -d.

To form the negative imperative for vosotros/-as, take the vosotros/-as form of the present subjunctive.

Positive Form
Replace infinitive-r with d		 Negative Form
Subjunctive (2nd person plural)
hablar ¡Hablad!Speak! ¡No habléis!Don’t speak!
aprender ¡Aprended!Learn! ¡No aprendáis!Don’t learn!
escribir ¡Escribid!Write! ¡No escribáis!Don’t write!

3rd person singular (usted)

To conjugate the imperative in the polite form (usted), we use the 3rd person singular of the present subjunctive for both the positive and negative forms.

Positive Form
Subjunctive (3rd person singular)		 Negative Form
Subjunctive (3rd person singular)
hablar ¡Hable!Speak! ¡No hable!Don’t speak!
aprender ¡Aprenda!Learn! ¡No aprenda!Don’t learn!
escribir ¡Escriba!Write! ¡No escriba!Don’t write!

3rd person plural (ustedes)

The imperative for the polite ustedes is the same as its present subjunctive form.

Positive Form
Subjunctive (3rd person plural)		 Negative Form
Subjunctive (3rd person plural)
hablar ¡Hablen!Speak! ¡No hablen!Don’t speak!
aprender ¡Aprendan!Learn! ¡No aprendan!Don’t learn!
escribir ¡Escriban!Write! ¡No escriban!Don’t write!

1st person plural (nosotros/nosotras)

The imperative for the nosotros/-as form is the same as the present subjunctive conjugation.

Positive Form
Subjunctive (1st person plural)		 Negative Form
Subjunctive (1st person plural)
hablar ¡Hablemos!Let’s speak! ¡No hablemos!Let’s not speak.
aprender ¡Aprendamos!Let’s learn! ¡No aprendamos!Let’s not learn.
escribir ¡Escribamos!Let’s write! ¡No escribamos!Let’s not write.

Reflexive Verbs

In the positive form of the imperative, the reflexive pronoun (te, os, se) is attached to the verb.

Remember:

  • in the first person plural we omit the s;
    Example:
    ¡Abrochémonos el cinturón!Let’s fasten our seatbelts! (not: abrochémosnos)
  • in the second person plural we omit the d;
Example:
¡Abrochaos el cinturón!Fasten your seatbelts! (not: abrochados)

¿«idos» or «iros»?

Officially, the imperative form of the verb irseto leave is idos.

Example:
¡Recoged vuestras cosas e idos inmediatamente!Get your things, we’re leaving right now.

However, the form iros is common and also considered acceptable.

In negative imperatives, reflexive pronouns appear after the negation no and before the verb:

Example:
No te abroches el cinturón.Don’t fasten your seatbelt.
Positive Form Negative Form
¡Abróchate!Buckle up! ← abrocha + te → ¡No te abroches!Don’t buckle up!
¡Abróchese!Buckle up! (polite form, singular) ← abroche + se → ¡No se abroche!Don’t buckle up!
¡Abrochémonos!Let’s buckle up! ← abrochemos + nos → ¡No nos abrochemos!Let’s not buckle up!
¡Abrochaos!Buckle up!Buckle up! ← abrochad + os → ¡No os abrochéis!Don’t buckle up!
¡Abróchense!Buckle up! (polite form, plural) ← abrochen + se → ¡No se abrochen!Don’t buckle up!

If a reflexive verb in the imperative appears together with a direct object pronoun (lo), this is attached to the verb and placed after the reflexive pronoun in a positive sentence.

Example:
Abróchate el cinturón.Fasten your seatbelt. → Abróchatelo.Fasten it.

In a negative sentence, lo appears between the reflexive pronoun and the verb.

Example:
No te abroches el cinturón.Don’t fasten your seatbelt. → No te lo abroches.Don’t fasten it.

Direct and Indirect Objects in the Imperative

When forming a sentence in the imperative that uses direct or indirect object pronouns (DO or IO), the pronouns are attached to the end of the verb.

Example:
Cerrar la ventana. (DO) → Ciérrala.Close it. (2nd person singular)
Comprar un helado a ella. (IO) → Cómprale un helado.Buy her an ice cream. (2nd person singular)
Comprar un helado a ella. (DO + IO) → Cómpraselo.Buy her one. (2nd person singular)

If the sentence is negative, the pronouns come before the verb.

Example:
No la cierres.Don’t close it.
No le compres un helado.Don’t buy her an ice cream.
No se lo compres.Don’t buy her it.

If the verb is also reflexive, in a positive imperative the reflexive pronoun is attached to the end of the verb first, followed by the direct object pronoun.

Example:
Abrócharse el cinturón. (DO) → Abróchatelo.Fasten it. (2nd person singular)

In the case of a negative imperative, the reflexive pronoun comes after the negation no followed by the direct object pronoun.

Example:
No te lo abroches.Don’t fasten it. (2nd person singular)

Alternative Forms

The form a + infinitive can replace the imperative in the 2nd person singular and plural:

Example:
¡A callar!Be quiet!
¡A correr!Run!