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10.2: Los mandatos formales- afirmativos y negativos

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    Formal affirmative and negative commands

    Formal commands are used to give an order to someone who you would address formally, such as "usted" or "ustedes".

    Follow the steps below to form the "usted" and "ustedes commands".

    1. Conjugate the verb in the yo form in the present tense of the indicative mood.
    2. Drop the final “-o”.
    3. Add new endings. (For "-ar" verbs, add “-e” and “-en”. For "-er" and "-ir" verbs, add “-a” and “-an”.)

    Review the examples below. Note that all the conjugation endings are in bold.

    Infinitive

    Present tense

    Yo form

    Stem

    (raíz)

    Ud. command

    Uds. command

    estudiar

    estudio

    estudi-

    (No) estudie

    (No) estudien

    leer

    leo

    le-

    (No) lea

    (No) lean

    abrir

    abro

    abr-

    (No) abra

    (No) abran

    Stem-changing verbs

    Stem change with "usted" and "ustedes" commands

    Subject

    Stem change (e → ie)

    Stem change (o →ue)

    Stem change (e → i)

    Usted

    Cierre la puerta.

    No vuelva tarde.

    Sirva la comida.

    Ustedes

    No empiecen el trabajo.

    Cuenten los números de 0 al 30.

    Repitan, por favor.

    Verbs with an irregular "yo" form in the present tense

    Verbs that have irregular conjugation in the "yo" form in the present tense will take its irregular stem in the command forms. Some verbs include "hacer", "tener", "poner", "traer", "salir", "decir", "venir", "oír", "conocer", "ofrecer", "conducir", and "producir". Here are some examples:

    • Pongan sus libros en la mesa. (Put your books on the table.)
    • Venga a las dos de la tarde. (Come at 2 in the afternoon.)
    • Conduzca lentamente. (Drive slowly.)
    • Traigan bebidas para el viaje. (Bring drinks for the trip.)

    Verbs ending in "-car", "-gar", "-zar"

    Verbs that end in "-car", "-gar", "-zar" have spelling change in the command form. Review the following chart. Note that spelling changes are noted in bold.

    Infinitive ending in:

    Present tense

    Yo form

    Spelling change

    "Usted" and "ustedes" commands

    -car

    sacar, secar, colocar, pescar, tocar, destacar, atacar

    marcar → marco

    c changes to qu

    marc → marqu

    Marque, marquen la fecha.

    -gar

    jugar, regar, pegar, pagar, agregar, apagar, colgar, entregar

    llegar → llego

    g changes to gu

    lleg → llegu

    Llegue, Lleguen a tiempo.

    -zar

    abrazar, almorzar, cruzar, comenzar, rezar, danzar

    empezar → empiezo

    z changes to c

    empiez → empiec

    Empiece, empiecen a leer.

    Irregular verbs in formal commands

    The following six verbs are conjugated irregularly. The acronym D.I.S.H.E.S. are used to remember these six verbs.

    Infinitive

    "Usted" command

    "Ustedes" command

    dar

    dé

    den

    ir

    vaya

    vayan

    saber

    sepa

    sepan

    haber

    haya

    hayan

    estar

    esté

    estén

    ser

    sea

    sean

    Affirmative commands

    In the affirmative command, the direct, indirect, reflexive or double pronouns are always attached to the end of the verb. In the examples below, the pronoun placement is in bold.

    • Despiértense temprano.
    • Léanlo con atención.
    • Díganmela.
    • Levántese, por favor.

    ¡Ojo! When the command has two or more syllables, the written accent is needed when attaching pronouns to preserve the original stress of the verb. The accent mark goes on the second to last syllable of the command (do not count the pronouns), as noted in bold in the examples below.

    • Entréguenmela.
    • Muéstrenmelos.
    • Pídaselo.
    • Siéntese, por favor.

    Negative commands

    In negative commands, place the word "no" before the verb.

    In negative commands, the direct, indirect, reflexive or double pronouns are placed after the negative word "no" and before the verb, as indicated in bold in the examples below.

    • No se despierten temprano.
    • No lo lean rápidamente.
    • No me la digan ahora.
    • No se levante, por favor.

    For a more formal tone, "usted" and "ustedes" is added after the command verb.

    • Siga usted estas instrucciones del médico.
    • Hablen ustedes conmigo después de la reunión.

    This page titled 10.2: Los mandatos formales- afirmativos y negativos is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by M. Barrio De Mendoza, K Gutiérrez, H.Ho, C. Lin, & A Stere Lugo (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .