Commands

To tell a friend, a child or a family member to do something, use the informal tú command. For regular verbs it could not be easier: take the tú form of the present and drop the final -s.

• hablas → habla, comes → come, escribes → escribe

• abres → abre, llamas → llama, pruebas → prueba

It is the same form as "he/she does" in the present, so Ana abre la ventana is a statement and Ana, abre la ventana is a command. The comma and the tone of voice tell them apart. Stem-changing verbs keep their change: cierra, vuelve, pide.

The trap for English speakers is using the infinitive (abrir la ventana), which you see on signs and in recipes but sounds odd said to a person. Another is adding usted endings by mistake (abra) when you are talking to a friend.

Other varieties have their own forms. In Rioplatense and much of Central America, vos commands drop the -r of the infinitive and stress the last syllable: hablá, comé, escribí. In Spain, a group of friends gets the vosotros command: hablad, comed, escribid. Latin America uses ustedes for any group: hablen, coman.

Eight very common verbs have short, irregular tú commands. They are worth learning as a list, because you will use them every day:

• venir → ven (come)

• tener → ten (have, take)

• poner → pon (put)

• salir → sal (leave, go out)

• hacer → haz (do, make)

• decir → di (say, tell)

• ser → sé (be)

• ir → ve (go)

Verbs built on them follow the same pattern: mantener → mantén, proponer → propón.

The trap is applying the regular rule: vienes minus -s gives viene, which is wrong as a command. Another is ser: "be careful" is ten cuidado, not sé cuidado, because Spanish "has" care. Sé is for character: sé amable, sé paciente. And ve is both "go" (from ir) and "see" (from ver, regular: ves minus -s); context decides.

In vos varieties most of these become regular again, from the infinitive: vení, tené, poné, salí, hacé, decí. For "go", andá is the usual choice. In Spain, vosotros uses venid, poned, haced, id.

With an affirmative command, object and reflexive pronouns are attached to the end of the verb, in the order reflexive, indirect, direct: dímelo, levántate, cómetela.

• Dime la verdad. → Dímela.

• Lee la carta a tu abuela. → Léesela. (le becomes se before lo/la)

• Siéntate y cuéntamelo todo.

Adding syllables moves the stress, so you usually need a written accent to keep it on the same vowel: come → cómelo, cuenta → cuéntame, di → dímelo. One-syllable commands with a single pronoun need none: dime, hazlo, ponlo.

English speakers often put the pronoun first, as in a statement (me lo dices), or drop it because English sometimes does ("Tell me!" with no "it"). If the thing is already known in the conversation, Spanish needs the pronoun: "Here is your coffee, drink it before it gets cold" is tómalo (or tómatelo), and "Tell me" about a known story is cuéntamelo.

The same rule holds for vos (decímelo, sentate) and usted (dígamelo). In Spain, vosotros drops the -d before os: sentaos, levantaos.

"Don't" changes the form completely. A negative tú command is no + the present subjunctive, which swaps the vowel of the ending: -ar verbs take -es, -er and -ir verbs take -as.

• habla → no hables, come → no comas, escribe → no escribas

• irregulars use the yo stem: vengo → no vengas, hago → no hagas, digo → no digas, salgo → no salgas

• a few are fully irregular: no vayas, no seas

Pronouns move to the front, between no and the verb, and the accent marks disappear: dímelo → no me lo digas, siéntate → no te sientes, tócalo → no lo toques.

The trap for English speakers is putting no in front of the affirmative form: no habla means "he doesn't speak", and no ven is not a command at all. Learn the pair together: ven / no vengas, hazlo / no lo hagas.

In vos varieties the standard negative is the same as with tú, no vengas, though you will also hear no vengás in Argentina and Central America. In Spain, vosotros uses no vengáis, no os preocupéis. Latin American ustedes uses no vengan.

To give an instruction to someone you address as usted (a customer, a patient, an older stranger, a client), use the present subjunctive form, even in the affirmative.

• hablar → hable, comer → coma, escribir → escriba

• irregulars from the yo stem: venga, haga, diga, ponga, salga, tenga

• fully irregular: vaya, sea, esté, dé, sepa

Pronouns still attach to the end of an affirmative command, with an accent to keep the stress: siéntese, dígame, escúcheme, tómelo. Polite softeners like por favor make it warmer, but the form itself is already respectful.

The trap for English speakers is using the tú command with someone they should address formally (siéntate, dime), or mixing the two in one sentence (siéntese y dime). Pick one register and keep it.

The plural is ustedes, with an -n: siéntense, pasen. In Latin America this is the plural for everyone, friends included. In Spain, ustedes is formal and friends get vosotros. In Colombia and parts of Central America, usted is also used warmly between friends and family, so you will hear venga and dígame in very relaxed settings.

Negative usted commands are the simplest of all to form, because the verb does not change: put no in front of the affirmative usted form. Hable → no hable, venga → no venga, vaya → no vaya.

What does change is the pronoun. As with every negative command, pronouns go before the verb, and the accent disappears:

• siéntese → no se siente

• dígamelo → no me lo diga

• tóquelo → no lo toque

The most common example is no se preocupe, "don't worry", which you will hear from receptionists, mechanics and doctors all day long.

The traps are the pronouns and the register. English speakers often attach the pronoun anyway (no preocúpese), which sounds wrong, or slip into the tú negative (no te preocupes) with someone they have been addressing as usted. Check who you are talking to, then put no + pronoun + verb.

The plural adds -n: no se preocupen, no toquen nada. Remember that in Latin America this is the plural for everybody, while in Spain a group of friends would hear no os preocupéis.