The Imperative

I. Intro

The imperative is used to tell someone to do something in a way that is stronger and more direct that making a suggestion. In both English and Spanish, the subject of an imperative sentence, or command, is implied and not explicitly mentioned - for example, “levanta la mano” (raise your hand), or “siéntate por favor” (please sit down). In English, we use the base form of the verb to express a command. In Spanish, we have several distinct imperative verb forms which can be divided into two main categories: informal (tú) and formal (usted). In this lesson, we are going to cover informal commands.

II. Form: Regular tú commands

Tú commands are formed by using the present tense usted form of most verbs. That means that the verb form for saying “he/she/it does something” is the same for the command “do something!”

Infinitive	Present tense (usted)	Tú command
hablar	Juan habla español.	¡Habla español!
comer	Elisa come la patata.	¡Come la patata!
vivir	Usted vive en una casa.	¡Vive en mi casa!

III. Form: Irregular tú commands

There are eight irregular tú commands: ser, poner, tener, salir, venir, ir, decir, and hacer.