Cepíllate, péinate, come una manzana o una pera: the positive imperative in Spanish
n this article we will look at the positive imperative in Spanish, the verb mood used to give orders, make requests, give advice or invite someone to do something. In other words, it is a verb mood that seeks to get the listener or listeners to perform an action. We will cover the grammar, regular conjugation, the most frequent irregular verbs, the combination with reflexive, direct object and indirect object pronouns, and examples of use. But we will also talk a little about pragmatics, because in Spanish, in many situations, the use of the imperative is avoided in favor of polite expressions. In situations where in other languages it is enough to add a "please" to the imperative sentence: in Spanish that "please" does not soften the tone of the imperative enough, so we use different alternatives. Let's go!
Regular conjugation.
The imperative is a verb mood used to request that the listener or listeners perform an action. As such, it does not exist for all grammatical persons: it exists for the second person singular, informal and formal (tú, usted), for the second person plural, informal and formal (vosotros, ustedes) and for the first person plural (nosotros/as). Let’s look at the regular conjugation.
Second person singular, informal (tú).
The second person singular imperative matches the third person singular of the present indicative (él/ella).
Bailar (to dance): él/ella baila (he/she dances). Imperative: ¡Baila! (Dance!)
Comer (to eat): él/ella come (he/she eats). Imperative: ¡Come! (Eat!)
Escribir (to write): él/ella escribe (he/she writes). Imperative: ¡Escribe! (Write!)
Second person singular, formal (usted).
The imperative of the formal second person singular is equivalent to the third person singular of the present subjunctive. You can read more about the conjugation of the subjunctive here, but as a general rule you can take the first person singular of the present indicative, drop the -o and replace it with an -e for verbs ending in -ar and with an -a for verbs ending in -er or -ir.
Bailar (to dance): yo bailo (I dance). Pongo música para que él baile (I put on music so that he dances). Imperative: ¡Baile! (Dance!)
Comer (to eat): yo como (I eat). Cocino para que él coma (I cook so that he eats). Imperative: ¡Coma! (Eat!)
Escribir (to write): yo escribo (I write). Le doy un bolígrafo para que él escriba (I give him a pen so that he writes). Imperative: ¡Escriba! (Write!)
First person plural (nosotros/as).
This form of the imperative is used for exhortations or invitations that include the speaker. It is, for the verb bailar (bailemos), the equivalent of let’s dance in English. It is equivalent to the first person plural of the present subjunctive. As a general rule, we can drop the -o from the first person singular of the present indicative, and replace it with -emos for verbs ending in -ar and with -amos for verbs ending in -er or -ir.
Bailar (to dance): yo bailo (I dance). Imperative: bailemos (let’s dance).
Comer (to eat): yo como (I eat). Imperative: comamos (let’s eat).
Escribir (to write): yo escribo (I write). Imperative: escribamos (let’s write).
A Rioplatense nuance: even among native Spanish speakers it is very hard to tell a native Uruguayan speaker from an Argentine one, because, with the exception of some particular accents from mainly northern Argentina and Uruguay, we speak in a very similar way. You can read a little more about our accent here. In this particular case, if you hear someone using, with our accent, the imperative in the first person plural, it is more likely that speaker is Argentine, and if to express the same thing the speaker uses a periphrasis, it is more likely that they are Uruguayan. That is to say, an Argentine would more likely say ¡bailemos! or ¡cenemos acá! (let’s have dinner here!), while a Uruguayan would more likely say ¡vamos a bailar! or ¡vamos a cenar acá!
Second person plural, informal (vosotros).
This form is used in Spain for imperative uses in the second person plural in informal situations. In Spanish America, while we understand its use, we do not use it and, in cases where we do use it, for example to make a joke imitating the Spanish accent, we normally use it with errors. And, paradoxically, words like vuestro (your, plural, informal) sound extremely formal to the ears of a Spanish American. This form is built by dropping the -r from the infinitive and replacing it with a -d.
Bailar (to dance): bailad (dance).
Comer (to eat): comed (eat).
Escribir (to write): escribid (write).
A frequent question on the Internet: Is it necessary/worth learning the vosotros form? Quick answer: yes, it is part of the language. Considered answer: Yes, anyone going to Spain or interacting with a Spanish person will hear this form. If they don’t learn it, they probably won’t understand it. Yes, knowledge takes up no space. Yes, Spanish has many varieties that are mutually intelligible but, for those learning it as a foreign language, they might not be if they only learn one of them. In short, yes.
Second person plural, formal (ustedes).
This form is used in Spain for formal situations and in Spanish America for both formal and informal situations. It is equivalent to the second person plural of the formal present subjunctive.
Bailar (to dance): pongo música para que ustedes bailen (I put on music so that you all dance). Imperative: ¡Bailen! (Dance!)
Comer (to eat): cocino para que ustedes coman (I cook so that you all eat). Imperative: ¡Coman! (Eat!)
Escribir (to write): les doy bolígrafos para que escriban (I give them pens so that they write). Imperative: ¡Escriban! (Write!)
Irregular verbs.
Some very frequently used verbs in the language are conjugated irregularly in the second person singular. There are 8 of them, and the good news is that they are used so often that you will learn them very quickly. Let’s look at them.
Ser (to be): sé. Sé paciente. (Be patient.)
Ir (to go): ve. Ve al supermercado. (Go to the supermarket.)
Tener (to have): ten. Ten cuidado. (Be careful.)
Poner (to put): pon. Pon la mesa. (Set the table.)
Hacer (to do/make): haz. Haz los deberes. (Do your homework.)
Decir (to say/tell): di. Di la verdad. (Tell the truth.)
Salir (to leave/go out): sal. Sal de aquí. (Get out of here.)
Venir (to come): ven. Ven aquí. (Come here.)
In the case of usted, nosotros and ustedes, as we saw before, the imperative coincides with the respective person of the present subjunctive, and the irregularities are maintained. That is to say, verbs that have irregular forms in the present subjunctive for these persons keep them in the imperative. In some cases the irregularity is simply the addition of a written accent to one of the forms. Let’s look at some examples.
Ser (to be): usted sea, nosotros seamos, ustedes sean.
Ir (to go): usted vaya, nosotros vayamos, ustedes vayan.
Estar (to be): usted esté, nosotros estemos, ustedes estén.
Dar (to give): usted dé, nosotros demos, ustedes den.
Saber (to know): usted sepa, nosotros sepamos, ustedes sepan.
The imperative with pronouns.
When the imperative is used with reflexive, direct object, indirect object pronouns or both, these are placed after the verb and joined to it forming a single word, which means that in some cases an accent mark must be added to maintain the stressed syllable. You can read more about reflexive pronouns here, and about direct and indirect object pronouns here. Let’s look at some examples.
Levantarse (to get up): levántate (tú). (get up)
Comer la fruta (to eat the fruit): cómela (tú). (eat it)
Sentarse (to sit down): siéntese (usted). (sit down)
Mirar las flores (to look at the flowers): mirémoslas (nosotros). (let’s look at them)
Comprar los limones (to buy the lemons): comprádlos (vosotros). (buy them)
Dar el libro a María (to give the book to María): dáselo (tú), déselo (usted). (give it to her)
Remember: when direct and indirect object pronouns go together the indirect object pronoun always comes first, and it becomes se, followed by the direct object pronoun.
The nosotros case.
When we add the pronoun nos to the imperative of the first person plural the final s is dropped. So we say veámonos and not *veámosnos, or juntémonos and not *juntémosnos.
The vosotros case.
As we saw earlier, to form the imperative of the informal second person plural vosotros it is enough to replace the r of the infinitive with a d: mirar (to look), mirad (look). When we add the pronoun os to this form of the imperative that d is dropped: mirar, mirad, miraos, peinar (to comb), peinad, peinaos.
Word processors: in many word processors, when we add pronouns to verbs forming a single word, these words are flagged as incorrect. For example, if we type veámoslos in Google Docs, a word that is correct, it is flagged as an error. A small trick to check whether we have made a mistake is to look at the correction suggestions, which in many cases go against the rules of the Spanish language. The problem is that many word processors use dictionaries that do not contain all the forms with enclitic pronouns, so they flag errors where there are none.
When is the imperative used? Uses and contexts.
The imperative appears in a huge variety of communicative situations:
Giving orders or direct instructions: Abre el documento. (Open the document.) / Cierra la puerta al salir. (Close the door on your way out.) / Escribe tu contraseña. (Type your password.)
Proposing something that includes the speaker: ¡Salgamos a caminar! (Let’s go for a walk!) / Comamos algo antes. (Let’s eat something first.) / Hablemos de eso más tarde. (Let’s talk about that later.) (nosotros form)
Giving advice: Come más verdura. (Eat more vegetables.) / Descansa más. (Rest more.) / Seamos realistas. (Let’s be realistic.)
Making requests (with implicit or explicit politeness): Dame un momento, por favor. (Give me a moment, please.) / Espera aquí un segundo. (Wait here a second.) / Dime tu nombre. (Tell me your name.)
Recipes and instruction manuals: In written Spanish, the imperative is very common in instructional texts. Añada dos cucharadas de aceite. (Add two tablespoons of oil.) / Mezcle bien los ingredientes. (Mix the ingredients well.) / Instale la aplicación en su dispositivo. (Install the app on your device.)
Invitations and offers: ¡Entra, entra! (Come in, come in!) / Toma, come algo. (Here, eat something.) / ¡Quedémonos un rato más! (Let’s stay a little longer!)
Advertising and slogans: ¡Descúbrelo! (Discover it!) / Vive la experiencia. (Live the experience.) / ¡Pruébalo ahora! (Try it now!)
Pragmatics and register.
In familiar contexts the imperative is used very frequently without sounding abrupt. However, except in Spain, where the use of the imperative among strangers is more tolerated, in many Latin American countries it can sound impolite, so alternatives are usually preferred:
The courtesy conditional: ¿Podrías ayudarme? (Could you help me?) / ¿Me traería la cuenta, por favor? (Could you bring me the bill, please?)
Using poder (can) or querer (want) in the conditional is a very common way to soften a request. ¿Puedes…? / ¿Puede…? in the present indicative: ¿Puedes hablar más despacio? (Can you speak more slowly?) / ¿Puede repetirlo, por favor? (Can you repeat it, please?)
Me gustaría que… + subjunctive: Me gustaría que lo revisaras. (I would like you to review it.) This structure is more formal and distant.
¿Te importaría…? / ¿Le importaría…? + infinitive: ¿Te importaría cerrar la ventana? (Would you mind closing the window?)
The infinitive in written instructions: In signs, instructions for use and notices, Spanish frequently uses the infinitive instead of the imperative: No fumar. (No smoking.) / Llamar antes de entrar. (Knock before entering.) / Conservar en lugar fresco. (Keep in a cool place.)
The periphrasis vamos a + infinitive: In colloquial speech, vamos a + infinitive competes with the nosotros imperative: Vamos a comer (Let’s eat) is equivalent to Comamos, though with a slightly more informal tone.
Por favor (please): This small addition turns any direct imperative into a polite request. Dame el menú (Give me the menu) → Dame el menú, por favor. (Give me the menu, please.) It is simple, but very effective.
We have reached the end of this article. I hope these lines have been useful to you. In the next article we will look at the negative imperative, and here I leave you exercises to practice this topic. And, as always, thank you for reading!
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