Everyday commands and polite instructions

What you’ll learn

• Form common affirmative tú commands.
• Recognize useful usted and negative command forms.
• Use respectful wording and appropriate pronoun placement.

Tell one familiar person what to do

Many affirmative tú commands match the third-person singular present form: habla, come, escribe. The instruction is directed at the listener even though the shape resembles él/ella. Frequent irregular forms are di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten and ven. Learn each with a useful action: Ven aquí; haz la tarea.

A command's tone depends on context and delivery. Por favor can soften a practical instruction, but it does not make every command suitable for every relationship. When you need a request instead of a direction, ¿Puedes...? is often useful. Choose the familiar or formal address expected in the particular situation.

Negative and formal instructions

Negative tú commands use forms such as no hables, no comas and no escribas. They do not simply put no before the affirmative form. Formal usted instructions include hable, coma and escriba, with the same forms after no. These forms relate to the present subjunctive, which the B1 lessons develop more fully.

Attach an object pronoun to an affirmative command: Léelo means read it. Place it before a negative command: No lo leas. An attached pronoun may require a written accent to preserve stress. At this stage, practise the provided forms and make the intended person and object clear; commands with multiple pronouns come later.

Useful vocabulary

ven

come (tú command)

haz

do / make (tú command)

pase

come in (usted command)

Common mistakes

• No hables is a negative command; no habla is ordinarily a statement about someone.
• Keep pronouns attached in a positive command but before a negative command.
• Do not omit an accent needed to retain stress, as in léelo.

Keep these ideas

• Affirmative tú commands often match habla, come and escribe.
• Negative and formal commands use different patterns.
• Context, wording and address shape how an instruction sounds.

Use it in your life

Write a short set of directions for a reading partner: begin, read, pause and check a word. Use one polite negative instruction.

Read it in context

Look for this lesson’s ideas in a complete Spanish story. Read the passage first, then use its translations to check your understanding.