We can also use the 1st person plural “nosotros” in some cases.

Example :

• (nosotros) ¡Vayamos a bailar! (Let’s dance!)

In Spanish, the third person singular “usted” is used when addressing one person politely and the third person plural “ustedes” when addressing several people.

The use of “usted” and “ustedes” is very common in South American countries.

Examples :

• (usted) Tomese un asiento. (Sit down.)
• (ustedes) !Chicos, vengan conmigo! (Boys, come with me!)

Formation of the affirmative imperative for regular verbs

Regular verbs in AR :

For regular verbs in -AR, with “tú” we write the verb conjugated in the third person of the present indicative, that is to say that the verbs end in “a“.

With “Usted“, “ustedes” and “nosotros” we write the verb conjugated in the present subjunctive, that is to say, putting an “e” instead of the “a“: -e / -emos.

There is a special case of “Vosotros” which is proper to the imperative. The 2nd person plural is conjugated using “ad“.

Examples :

BAILAR (dance)

(tù) baila
(usted) baile
(nosotros) bailemos
(vosotros) bailad
(ustedes) bailen

• Baila conmigo. (Dance with me.)
• Bailemos al ritmo de la canción. (Let’s dance to the rhythm of the song).

Regular verbs in -ER :

For the regular verbs in -ER, again with “tú” we write the verb conjugated in the third person of the present indicative, that is, the verbs end in “e”.

With “Usted“, “ustedes” and “nosotros” we write the verb conjugated in the present subjunctive, that is to say, putting an “a” in place of the “e“: -a /-amos.

For “vosotros” we conjugate the verb using “ed“.

Example :

COMER (eat)

(tú) come
(usted) coma
(nosotros) comamos
(vosotros) comed
(ustedes) coman

• Come tu sopa. (Eat your soup)
• ¡Comamos al restaurante! (Let’s eat at the restaurant!)

Regular verbs in -IR

For regular verbs in -IR, as for verbs in -AR and -ER, with “tú” we write the verb conjugated in the third person of the present indicative, i.e. the verbs end in “e“.

With “usted“, “ustedes” and “nosotros” we write the verb conjugated in the present subjunctive, i.e. putting an “a” instead of the “e“: -a / -amos.

In the case of “vosotros” we conjugate the verb using “id“.

Example :

ABRIR (open)

(tú) abre
(usted) abra
(nosotros) abramos
(vosotros) abrid
(ustedes) abran

• Abre la puerta. (Open the door.)
• Abrid su libro de inglés a la página 10. (Open your English book to page 10).

Formation of the affirmative imperative for irregular verbs

Spanish has its share of irregular verbs. We will mention the main ones. Note that “usted“, “nosotros” and “ustedes” are conjugated as in the present subjunctive and that “vosotros” is never irregular.

HACER (Do)

(tú) haz
(usted) haga
(nosotros) hagamos
(vosotros) haced
(ustedes) hagan

• Haz lo que te digo. (Do as I say).
• ¡Hagamos la fiesta! (Let’s have a party!)

PONER (put)

(tú) pon
(usted) ponga
(nosotros) pongamos
(vosotros) poned
(ustedes) pongan

• Poned la mesa. (Set the table).
• Pon tu ropa sucia en el baño. (Put your dirty laundry in the bathroom).

SER (be)

(tú) sé
(usted) sea
(nosotros) seamos
(vosotros) sed
(ustedes) sean

• Sé valiente.(Be brave).
• Seamos humildes. (Let’s be humble).

IR (Go)

(tú) ve
(usted) vaya
(nosotros) vayamos
(vosotros) id
(ustedes) vayan

• Ahora vayamos al grano. (Now let’s get back to the point).

TENER (Hold)

(tú) ten
(usted) tenga
(nosotros) tengamos
(vosotros) tenid
(ustedes) tengan

• Ten cuidado. (Be careful.)
• Por favor, tenga en cuenta que necesitamos 5 días hábiles para hacer su vestido. (Please note that it takes us 5 business days to make your dress.)

VENIR (Come)

(tú) Ven
(usted) Venga
(nosotros) Vengamos
(vosotros) Venid
(ustedes) Vengan

• Ven aquí. (Come here.)
• Vengan conmigo por favor. (Please come with me).

SALIR (go out)

(tú) Sal
(usted) Salga
(nosotros) Salgamos
(vosotros) Salid
(ustedes) Salgan

• Sal conmigo esta noche. (Go out with me tonight).
• ¡Salgan de mi casa! (Get out of my house).

DECIR (Tell)

(tú) Di
(usted) Diga
(nosotros) Digamos
(vosotros) Decid
(ustedes) Digan

• Dime la verdad. (Tell me the truth).
• Digamos solo que tenemos amigos en común. (Let’s just say we have friends in common).

Pronominal verbs in the imperative

For the pronominal verbs conjugated in the imperative in Spanish, they are linked to a reflexive pronoun. The conjugation rule is the same as for regular verbs except for “vosotros” where the “d” is removed.

Let’s see some examples:

Regular pronominal verbs

ESFORZARSE (make an effort)

(tú) Esfuérzate
(usted) Esfuércese
(nosotros) Esforcémonos
(vosotros) Esforzaos
(ustedes) Esfuércense

• Esfuércese por tener una diete equilibrada. (Try to eat a balanced diet).
• Esforzaos en ser màs responsables. (Do everything you can to be more responsible).

VOLVERSE (turn around/go back)

(tú) Vuélvete
(usted) Vuelváse
(nosotros) volvamonos
(vosotros) volveos
(ustedes) vuélvanse

• Vuélvete a dormir. (Go back to sleep).
• Vuélvanse hacia acá por favor. (Please turn to me).

ABRIRSE (Open)

(tú) ábrete
(usted) ábrase
(nosotros) abrámonos
(vosotros) abríos
(ustedes) ábranse

• Ábrete sésamo. (Open Sesame)
• Ábranse a Dios. (Open yourselves to God).

Irregular pronominal verbs

IRSE (leave/go)

(tú) vete
(usted) vayáse
(nosotros) vayámonos
(vosotros) idos
(ustedes) váyanse

• ¡Vayámonos! (Let’s go!)
• Váyanse de mi casa. (Get out of my house)
• Vete a comprar pan. (Go buy some bread)

PONERSE (to put on/become)

(tú) ponte
(usted) pongase
(nosotros) pongámonos
(vosotros) pongaos
(ustedes) poneos

• Ponte esa falda. (Put on this skirt).
• Poneos tapones si hay demasiado ruido. (Put earplugs in if it’s too loud.)
• Ponte guapa esta noche.(Make yourself beautiful tonight.)
• Vamos, ponte serio. (Come on, be serious.)

👉 Practice now! Imperative in Spanish (Affirmative Form) – Exercice

👉 Next lesson: Imperative (negative form)

👉 Previous lesson: Verbs like Gustar

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