¡Hola, amigos! Do you remember the imperative mood? Today, we’ll learn how to give direct commands using usted, ustedes, and nosotros/as. For example, “¡Coman, niños!” (Eat, children!) or “¡No escriba eso, Sr. Smith!” (Don’t write that, Mr. Smith!).
Here’s a great shortcut: the vowel at the end of the command is the opposite of what you typically use for each conjugation. For example, -ar verbs take the vowel e, whereas -er and -ir verbs take the vowel a.
In short, here’s what you need to do:
Ar Verbs (Hablar)
1. Go to usted, ustedes or nosotros/as in the simple present:
usted habla (you speak)
ustedes hablan (you all speak)
nosotros/as hablamos (we speak)
2. Drop the subject pronoun and replace the a with an e:
[usted] ¡hable! (speak!)
[ustedes] ¡hablen! (speak!)
[nosotros/as] ¡hablemos! (let’s speak!)
3. The negative form has the same conjugation:
[usted] ¡no hable! (don’t speak!)
[ustedes] ¡no hablen! (don’t speak!)
[nosotros] ¡no hablemos! (let’s not speak!)
Er and Ir Verbs (Comer)
1. Go to usted, ustedes or nosotros/as in the simple present:
usted come (you eat)
ustedes comen (you all eat)
nosotros/as comemos (we eat)
2. Drop the subject pronoun and replace the e with an a:
[usted] ¡coma! (eat!)
[ustedes] ¡coman! (eat!)
[nosotros/as] ¡comamos! (let’s eat!)
3. The negative form has the same conjugation:
[usted] ¡no coma! (don’t eat!)
[ustedes] ¡no coman! (don’t eat!)
[nosotros/as] ¡no comamos! (let’s not eat!)
Let’s play this game!
What About Irregular Verbs?
To learn about stem-changing verbs, click here! (COMING SOON)
To learn about special irregular verbs, click here! (COMING SOON)
