11.4: Gramática. Los mandatos formales; afirmativos y negativos
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- Romano Sánchez Domínguez
- Imperial Valley College
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".
- Conjugate the verb in the yo form in the present tense of the indicative mood.
- Drop the final “-o”.
- 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 |
estudi o |
estudi- |
(No) estudi e |
(No) estudi en |
|
leer |
le o |
le- |
(No) le a |
(No) le an |
|
abrir |
abr o |
abr- |
(No) abr a |
(No) abr an |
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 → mar c o |
c changes to qu mar c → mar qu |
Mar que, mar quen la fecha. |
|
-gar jugar, regar, pegar, pagar, agregar, apagar, colgar, entregar |
llegar → lle g o |
g changes to gu lle g → lle gu |
Lle gue , Lle guen a tiempo. |
|
-zar abrazar, almorzar, cruzar, comenzar, rezar, danzar |
empezar → empie z o |
z changes to c empie z → empie c |
Empie ce , empie cen 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 .
- Despiérten se temprano.
- Léan lo con atención.
- Dígan mela .
- Levánte se , 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.
- Entr é guenmela.
- Mu é strenmelos.
- P í daselo.
- Si é ntese, 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.