3: Formal Commands
- Page ID
- 164397
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Parte 1: Mandatos formales (usted/ustedes)
Formal commands are used to beg, urge, encourage, command, or give orders to people you address as "usted" and "ustedes" only.
Conjugación: verbos regulares
Use the following process to conjugate formal commands:
- Conjugate the verb to "yo" in present tense.
- Drop the "-o" ending of the conjugation.
- Add new ending*. (-e, -en, -a, -an)
*If the verb in infinitive form ends in "-ar", the new ending for "usted" will be "-e" and for "ustedes" will be "-en". If the verb ends in "-er" or in "-ir", the new ending for "usted" will be "-a" and for "ustedes" will be "-an".
Ejemplos
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Usted | Ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|
| hablar | habl-o | hable | hablen |
| comer | com-o | coma | coman |
| vivir | viv-o | viva | vivan |
Práctica 1
Conjugación: "yo" irregular y cambios de raíz
If a verb has an irregular "yo" form or a stem-change affecting the conjugation of "yo", use the same conjugation process described above. Keep all the letters that come before the ending "-o" as the new stem for your conjugation.
Ejemplos
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Usted | Ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|
| tener | teng-o | tenga | tengan |
| pedir | pid-o | pida | pidan |
| dormir | duerm-o | duerma | duerman |
| pensar | piens-o | piense | piensen |
Práctica 2
Conjugación: terminaciones "-car", "-gar", "-zar"
Verbs ending in "-car", "-gar", and "-zar" require a spelling change when conjugated as formal commands. The ending "-car" will change to "-que" in the "usted" conjugation and to "-quen" in the "ustedes" conjugation. The ending "-gar" will change to "-gue" when conjugating in "usted" form and to "-guen" in "ustedes" form. Verbs ending in "-zar" will change "z" to "c", and the new ending will be "-ce" for "usted" and "-cen" for "ustedes".
Ejemplos
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Usted | Ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|
| buscar | busc-o | busque | busquen |
| pagar | pag-o | pague | paguen |
| empezar | empiez-o | empiece | empiecen |
Note that "empezar" is also a stem-changing verb. You must keep any irregularity in the formal command conjugation, in this case, the second "e" of "empezar" changes to "ie" in the present tense of "yo", "empiezo", so the command forms must keep this change.
Práctica 3
Conjugación: irregular verbs
All verbs that do not end in "-o" when conjugated in present tense are irregular commands since they cannot follow the regular conjugation process. Fortunately, there are only five irregular verbs: dar, estar, ir, saber, ser. There is no rule or pattern to follow when conjugating these verbs, just memorize their conjugations:
| Infinitivo | Usted | Ustedes |
|---|---|---|
| dar | dé | den |
| estar | esté | estén |
| ir | vaya | vayan |
| saber | sepa | sepan |
| ser | sea | sean |
Práctica 4
Más ejemplos: oraciones
Usually, "usted" and "ustedes" is not used before formal commands. The conjugation and the tone given to the conversation indicates that the subject of the command is the listener. However, when "usted" and "ustedes" is needed for clarification purposes, it should be placed after the command:
- Hable con su profesor. (Talk to your professor.)
- Hable usted con su profesor. (Talk to your professor.)
Alternatively, the name of the person or a noun to refer to the person receiving the command could be used followed by a comma:
- María, hable con su profesor. (Maria, talk to your professor.)
- Chicos, hablen con su profesor. (Guys, talk to your professor.)
To make commands negative, just add the word "no" before the command:
- No hable con su profesor. (Don't talk to your professor.)
- Chicos, no hablen con su profesor. (Guys, don't talk to your professor.)
Práctica 5
Parte 2: Mandatos formales con pronombres
When using reflexive, direct object, and indirect object pronouns with commands, affirmative and negative commands will follow different rules.
Mandatos afirmativos
In affirmative commands, pronouns must always be attached to the end of the command. When attaching pronouns to the end of a command, an accent mark must be added on the second to last syllable of the command, not counting the pronouns added.
Ejemplos
- Traiga el libro. (Bring the book.)
- Tráigalo. (Bring it.)
- Tráigamelo. (Bring it to me.)
The command in the sentences above is "traiga" (bring). On the second example, a direct object pronoun was added to replace "el libro" and an accent mark was added on the second to last syllable of "traiga". Similarly, an accent mark was added to the second sentence. Note that the accent mark is also on the second to last syllable of "traiga", even though the word is longer because we added two pronouns, direct and indirect object pronouns. The indirect object pronoun must always come before then the direct object pronoun. All the examples above are in "usted" form. Change the commands to "ustedes" form just by adding an "n" after "traiga": "traigan, tráiganlo, tráiganmelo".
- ¡Levántese! (Get up! - "usted" form)
- ¡Levántense! (Get up! -"ustedes" form)
In the example above, a reflexive verb, "levantarse", is used to give an order. Reflexive verbs always need a pronoun in their conjugated and infinitive version. Since the formal commands only refer to "usted" and "ustedes", the reflexive pronoun will always be "se". Attach "se" to the end of the command and add an accent mark on the second to last syllable of the command, in this case "levantar".
Práctica 6
Mandatos negativos
In negative commands, the pronouns must precede the command and follow the word "no".
Ejemplos
- No traiga el libro. (Don't bring the book.)
- No lo traiga. (Don't bring it.)
- No me lo traiga. (Don't bring it to me.)
Since the pronouns are not attached to the command, there is no need to add an accent mark. When using a direct and indirect object pronoun, keep the same order as in the affirmative sentence, indirect object pronoun goes first and direct object pronoun must follow.
- ¡No se levante! (Don't get up! -singular-usted)
- ¡No se levanten! (Don't get up! -plural-ustedes)
Reflexive pronouns must also precede the command and follow the word "no".