Affirmative and negative
Ud. and
Uds. commands and negative
tú and
vosotros commands are created by using the appropriate present-tense subjunctive conjugation form. To create these commands, remember the mantra: “form of
yo, drop the -
o, add the opposite ending.” The affirmative
tú command forms of sample verbs are included in Table
1 , so that you remember that, although the negative
tú command is simply the subjunctive
tú form, the subjunctive is not used when a
tú command is affirmative.
TABLE 1
Sample Verbs in Command Forms
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
trabajar (to work)
no trabaje
trabaje
no trabajen
trabajen
no trabajes
trabaja
vender (to sell)
no venda
venda
no vendan
vendan
no vendas
vende
vivir (to live)
no viva
viva
no vivan
vivan
no vivas
vive
perder (to lose)
no pierda
pierda
no pierdan
pierdan
no pierdas
pierde
repetir (to repeat)
no repita
repita
no repitan
repitan
no repitas
repite
rogar (to beg)
no ruegue
ruegue
no rueguen
rueguen
no ruegues
ruega
practicar (to practice)
no practique
practique
no practiquen
practiquen
no practiques
practica
comenzar (to begin)
no comience
comience
no comiencen
comiencen
no comiences
comienza
All the issues of the present subjunctive are reflected in the command forms. If a verb undergoes a stem change in the present tense, the command form will undergo the same stem change. If a verb undergoes a spelling change in the present tense, the command form will undergo the same spelling change. These kinds of verbs include those that end in -
go or -
zco.
Table
2 includes all the command forms for several -
go verbs. Notice that the -
go verbs all have irregular affirmative
tú command forms.
TABLE 2
Command Forms of Common -
go Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
decir (to say)
no diga
diga
no digan
digan
no digas
di
tener (to have)
no tenga
tenga
no tengan
tengan
no tengas
ten
poner (to put)
no ponga
ponga
no pongan
pongan
no pongas
pon
salir (to leave)
no salga
salga
no salgan
salgan
no salgas
sal
venir (to come)
no venga
venga
no vengan
vengan
no vengas
ven
Spelling changes
Some common verbs that end in -
car, -
gar, or -
zar change spelling in the subjunctive and, therefore, affect all the command forms except the
tú and
vosotros affirmative, as demonstrated below.
If a verb ends in -
car, change the
c to
qu in all command forms except the
tú affirmative. Table
3 offers some sample verbs to help you remember this type of verb.
TABLE 3
Command Forms of Common -
car Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
buscar (to look for)
no busque
busque
no busquen
busquen
no busques
busca
explicar (to explain)
no explique
explique
no expliquen
expliquen
no expliques
explica
indicar (to indicate)
no indique
indique
no indiquen
indiquen
no indiques
indica
sacar (to take)
no saque
saque
no saquen
saquen
no saques
saca
tocar (to touch)
no toque
toque
no toquen
toquen
no toques
toca
If a verb ends in -
gar, change the
g to
gu in all command forms except the
tú affirmative. Look carefully at the sample -
gar verbs in Table
4 .
TABLE 4
Command Forms of Common -
gar Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
cargar (to load)
no cargue
cargue
no carguen
carguen
no cargues
carga
entregar (to deliver, to hand over)
no entregue
entregue
no entreguen
entreguen
no entregues
entrega
jugar (to play)
no juegue
juegue
no jueguen
jueguen
no juegues
juega
llegar (to arrive)
no llegue
llegue
no lleguen
lleguen
no llegues
llega
If a verb ends in -
zar, change the
z to
c in all command forms except the
tú affirmative. The command forms of a few verbs are provided in Table
5 .
TABLE 5
Command Forms of Common -
zar Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
abrazar (to hug)
no abrace
abrace
no abracen
abracen
no abraces
abraza
comenzar (to begin)
no comience
comience
no comiencen
comiencen
no comiences
comienza
organizar (to organize)
no organice
organice
no organicen
organicen
no organices
organiza
realizar (to realize)
no realice
realice
no realicen
realicen
no realices
realiza
Verbs that end in a vowel +
-cer are called -
zco verbs in the present tense. .
TABLE 6
Command Forms of Common Verbs Ending in a Vowel Plus -
cer
Infinitive Command
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
desaparecer (to disappear)
no desaparezca
desaparezca
no desaparezcan
desaparezcan
no desaparezcas
desaparece
obedecer (to obey)
no obedezca
obedezca
no obedezcan
obedezcan
no obedezcas
obedece
ofrecer (to offer)
no ofrezca
ofrezca
no ofrezcan
ofrezcan
no ofrezcas
ofrece
A verb that ends in a consonant + -
cer or -
cir has a
yo form ending in -
zo. The command forms for these types of verbs are demonstrated in Table
7 .
TABLE 7
Command Forms of Common Verbs Ending in a Consonant Plus -
cer or
-cir
Infinitive Command
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
esparcir (to scatter)
no esparza
esparza
no esparzan
esparzan
no esparzas
esparce
vencer (to conquer)
no venza
venza
no venzan
venzan
no venzas
vence
A verb that ends in -
gir reflects the present subjunctive -
ja endings, as you can see in the examples in Table
8 .
TABLE 8
Command Forms of Common -
gir and
-ger Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
corregir (to correct)
no corrija
corrija
no corrijan
corrijan
no corrijas
corrige
escoger (to choose)
no escoja
escoja
no escojan
escojan
no escojas
escoge
dirigir (to direct)
no dirija
dirija
no dirijan
dirijan
no dirijas
dirige
proteger (to protect)
no proteja
proteja
no protejan
protejan
no protejas
protege
Notice in Table
9 that verbs that end in -
uir have a
y in front of the command endings.
TABLE 9
Command Forms of Common -
uir Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
contribuir (to contribute)
no contribuya
contribuya
no contribuyan
contribuyan
no contribuyas
contribuye
destruir (to destroy)
no destruya
destruya
no destruyan
destruyan
no destruyas
destruye
huir (to run away, to flee)
no huya
huya
no huyan
huyan
no huyas
huye
incluir (to include)
no incluya
incluya
no incluyan
incluyan
no incluyas
incluye
The above rule does not apply to verbs that end in -
guir (such as
seguir), whose
yo form ends in -
go because the
u in the infinitive is only present to attain the hard
g sound.
In Table
10 , you can see a stem change in all command forms of
conseguir (to get). This verb is like
seguir and all its prefix verbs. Notice that the
u from the infinitive disappears in all command forms except the affirmative
tú.
TABLE 10
Command Forms of
Conseguir
Infinitive
Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud. Command
Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds. Command
Neg. Tú Command
Affirm. Tú Command
conseguir (to get)
no consiga
consiga
no consigan
consigan
no consigas
consigue
If a verb is really irregular in the present tense subjunctive, the
Ud.,Uds., and negative
tú command forms will reflect the same irregularity. Table
11 is a list of all the truly irregular command forms.
Antonyms and Synonyms
The Imperative
