The imperative mood

Unit 11 (Unidad 11)
The imperative mood (El modo
imperativo)
Level 1
1.1 Forms of the imperative (El imperativo)
1.2 How to soften the possible aggressive nature of the imperative
(Como suavizar la posible agresividad del imperativo)
1.1 Forms of the imperative
The imperative in Spanish conveys the idea of direct orders or commands: ¡Habla! =
Speak!, ¡Come! = Eat!, ¡Abre! = Open! are the imperative forms of the verbs hablar, comer
and abrir.This form corresponds to the second person singular form of the verb (t´u).
There also exists a second person plural. The imperative forms of the three model verbs
are as follows:
Singular Plural
comprar ¡Compra! Buy! ¡Comprad! Buy!
vender ¡Vende! Sell! ¡Vended! Sell!
abrir ¡Abre! Open! ¡Abrid! Open!
Examples
¡Compra pan! = Buy bread! ¡Vende la casa! = Sell the house!
¡Abre la puerta! = Open the door!
¡Corred! = Run! ¡Leed! = Read!
Four essential remarks must be made here.
i The first is that the second person plural imperative form corresponding to vosotros
is rarely used, and it could be argued from the author’s long experience that it is
rapidly disappearing. It sounds odd, awkward and associated with very formal
language. One has the suspicion that young Spanish speakers no longer learn it at
school. The present author has only ever heard ¡Salid! on one occasion in countless
years of living in Spain. Furthermore, in Spanish America, it does not exist. Mexicans
regard it as archaic, and an object of fun or even derision. They replace it completely
by the Uds. form. (See level 2.)
ii The second remark is that the negative forms of the imperative, both singular and

plural, are really taken from the subjunctive. These negative or subjunctive forms will
be treated in level 2.
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
iii Thirdly, the imperative forms may seem too sharp or aggressive to many Spanish
speakers, with the result that other forms of order or request are often resorted to.
(See below, level 1.2.)
iv Fourthly, the polite Ud. and Uds. forms are also derived from the subjunctive (see the
subjunctive, unit 16). Hence:
Singular Plural
comprar ¡Compre pan! Buy bread! ¡Compren pan! Buy bread!
vender ¡Venda la casa! Sell the house! ¡Vendan la casa! Sell the house!
abrir ¡Abra la puerta! Open the door! ¡Abran la puerta! Open the door!
The question of whether you would use the Ud. form of the imperative could lead to
much debate. You would need to know a person quite well to issue orders, and knowing
a person well would doubtless exclude the use of the Ud. form.The singular form Ud.
has no exercises for this very reason. You should merely be able to recognize it. The
plural form Uds. has exercises because, as seen below, it replaces the vosotros form in
Mexico.
Anumber of irregular verbs have only an abbreviated form for the imperative cor-
responding to t´u.Their second person plural form is regular, and, of course, becoming
archaic:
Singular Plural
decir ¡Di! ¡Decid! Say!
hacer ¡Haz! ¡Haced! Do/make!
ir ¡Ve! ¡Id! Go!
poner ¡Pon! ¡Poned! Put!
salir ¡Sal! ¡Salid! Go out!
tener ¡Ten! ¡Tened! Have!
venir ¡Ven! ¡Venid! Come!

The plural forms above need merely to be recognized, for they are not used these days.
But, how does a person addressing a group of children, students or pupils to whom (s)he
would normally use the vosotros form, give an order? Certainly not, for example, ¡Salid!
or ¡Hablad! The teacher would resort to a subterfuge like Salimos or ¡Salgamos!
The Ud. and Uds. formsofthe irregular verbs above are as follows:
¡Diga!/¡Digan! – ¡Haga!/¡Hagan! – ¡Vaya!/¡Vayan! – ¡Ponga!/¡Pongan! – ¡Salga!/¡Salgan! –
¡Tenga!/¡Tengan! – ¡Venga!/¡Vengan!
1.2 How to soften the possible aggressive nature
of the imperative
As mentioned above, the possible aggressive character of the imperative is often mitigated
byagentler form of speech. The infinitive is often used in speech and, sometimes, in
commercial labelling:
Llamarme esta tarde (instead of Ll
´
amame ...) Call me this afternoon
Escribirme cuando puedas (instead of
Escr
´
ıbeme ...)
Write to me when you can
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11 The imperative mood
Mandarnos la factura ahora (instead of
M
´
andenos ...)
Send us the bill now
No dec´ırselo (instead of No se lo digas) Don’t tell her/him
Mantenerse fuera del alcance de los ni˜nos (on a
medicine bottle)

Keep out of the reach of children
No fumar (instead of No fumen –inalift, for
instance)
Don’t smoke; No smoking
Empujar (instead of Empuje(n) –onadoor) Push
Tirar (instead of Tire(n) –onadoor) Pull
Other ways of avoiding the imperative in common use:
Me lo env´ıas hoy Send it to me today (i.e. the indicative with
a slight rising intonation)
Me pone otra copa Please give me another wine glass (to a
waiter and with rising intonation)
Exercises
Level 1
i Change the infinitive to the imperative, using t´u,asinthe example
Example
Mirar por la ventana > Mira por la ventana
aVender estas flores h Comer estos caramelos
bIrahora i Decir “Adi´os” a tu hermano
c Comprar dos panes j Leer el peri´odico
d Abrir la puerta k Venir esta tarde
ePreparar la comida l Hablar con la profesora
f Hacer tus deberes ahora m Poner tus libros en la mesa
g Salir antes de las cinco n Darle una silla a esta se˜nora
ii Change the indicative to the imperative, using t´u,asinthe example
Discutes el precio > Discute el precio
a Compras la verdura g Coges
∗
estos papeles
bRompes la caja h Tomas estos papeles
c Estacionas el carro (M)iAguantas esta maleta

dAparcas el coche j Abres este sobre
e Mandas la carta k Bebes este vino
fVendes tu camioneta l Haces el planchado
* Not used this way in many Spanish American countries, including Mexico. It is con-
sidered indecent. It has the meaning of “to screw.” Oddly enough, the standard term in
Mexico and Spain, tirar = to throw/pull, also means “to screw” in Colombia. How to
replace in Mexico and Colombia? Tomar un cami´on / estos papeles = to catch a bus / these
papers. Echar una pelota = to throw a ball
iii Find a more courteous way of giving the following orders, as in the example
Poner la mesa > pones la mesa (por favor) (Spaniards do not seem to worry too much
about por favor whereas the use of please in England borders on the squeamish, at least for
Spanish speakers)
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
a Escribir la carta f Darle la llave a tu madre
b Conducir el coche g Meter los cuchillos en el caj´on
c Hablar con el cartero h Pagar la cuenta
dEchar la tarjeta al buz´on i Leer en alta voz
ePoner las servilletas j Reservar boletos (M)deavi´on
iv Class activity
Objective –topractice the imperative mood
Method –aclass member is chosen to stand in front of the class and give orders in the
imperative. The class has to respond with actions.
Examples
Levanten los brazos (Everyone raises their arms – at least we hope so!)
Cierren los ojos (Everyone closes their eyes)
Abran la boca (Open your mouth)
These are standard orders but someone among you must have more imagination than
the author. However, here are some verbs that can help you:
Quitar, amarrar las agujetas (M)/atar los cordones, poner un libro en el suelo, tocar,

empujar, tirar de, gritar, platicar (M)/hablar, leer, escribir, esconder un libro, salir de la
clase (only two or three, please), regresar, escuchar al profesor
Level 2
2.1 The Mexican use of the Uds. form of the imperative (El uso mexicano de la
forma Uds. del imperativo)
2.2 The first person plural of the imperative (La forma nosotros del imperativo)
2.3 The negative form of the imperative (La forma negativa del imperativo)
2.4 The imperative with pronouns (El imperativo con pronombres)
2.5 The negative imperative with pronouns (El imperativo negativo con
pronombres)
2.1 The Mexican use of the Uds. form of the
imperative
As noted above, the plural form vosotros does not exist in Mexico, as in other Spanish
American countries. Uds. replaces it. Thus, both to people unknown or to friends a
Mexican would say:
Escriban una carta –Write a letter Manejen el carro – Drive the car
Abran la ventana – Open the window Hablen espa˜nol – Speak Spanish
Such usage sounds disconcerting to a Spaniard when it is regularly observed by a Mexican
towards a Spaniard whom the Mexican would know well. For a Spaniard, Uds. implies
persons you do not know, or hold in great respect or esteem. But, there you are. It is
a feature the present author has great difficulty in accommodating, at least from the
emotional point of view.
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11 The imperative mood
2.2 The first person plural of the imperative
The imperative is also used, as in English, in the first person plural:
¡Hablemos franc´es! Let us speak French!
¡Corramos hasta la barrera! Let’s run to the gate!
¡Vivamos hasta los cien a˜nos! Let’s live till we are a hundred!
The subjunctive form is used here.

2.3 The negative form of the imperative
The negative form of the imperative, the negative subjunctive, requires particular atten-
tion. Here are the forms:
No hables Do not speak
No hable (Ud.) Do not speak
No hablemos Let us not speak
No habl´eis (“Have fun” in Mexico) Do not speak
No hablen (“Have fun” in Spain) Do not speak
Similarly: -er No comas/coma/comamos/com´ais/coman = Don’t, eat, etc.
-ir No abras/abra/abramos/abr´ais/abran = Don’t open, etc.
The importance of the knowledge of the subjunctive forms is highlighted here. As far as
this unit is concerned, it is useful to learn the negative forms of the subjunctive of some
irregular verbs:
decir: No digas/diga/digamos/dig´ais/digan = Don’t say, etc.
hacer: No hagas/haga/hagamos/hag´ais/hagan = Don’t do, etc.
∗ir: No vayas/vaya/vayamos/vay´ais/vayan = Don’t go, etc.
poner: No pongas/ponga/pongamos/pong´ais/pongan = Don’t put, etc.
salir: No salgas/salga/salgamos/salg´ais/salgan = Do not go out, etc.
tener: No tengas/tenga/tengamos/teng´ais/tengan = Do not have, etc.
venir: No vengas/venga/vengamos/veng´ais/vengan = Do not come, etc.
* Va yamos is much less used than the straightforward indicative Vamos,asMexicans,
or copycat cowboys, would say in Western films: ¡Vamos, muchachos! These are the
first foreign words the present author learnt as a young child watching westerns. You are
never too young to start a foreign language.
2.4 The imperative with pronouns
i Pronouns are added to the imperative when the imperative is affirmative:
P´agame ma˜nana = Paymetomorrow
´
Abrela en seguida = Open it straight away
D´ımelo = Tell me (it)

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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
D´ejame trabajar = Let me work
Cu´ıdate = Take care (of yourself )
D´amelas = Give them to me
Escr´ıbela = Write it
Escr´ıbanles = Write to them
ii When the nos of the first person plural is added, the s of the imperative is dropped:
Sent´emonos = Let’s sit down
V´amonos = Let’s go
In the above examples, note the written accent over the appropriate vowel to keep the
correct stress in the sound.
iii Similarly, when the pronoun os is added to a vosotros imperative the d is lost:
¡Sentaos y callaos! Sit down and keep quiet!
¡Lavaos! Wash yourselves!
Exceptionally, this is not the case with irse > idos (Go away).
Furthermore, in Mexico, as in all Spanish American countries, the question does not
arise: ¡Si´entense y c´allense!, ¡L´avense! Speaking to small children, this would never be the case
in Spain.
However, in Spain, here also the infinitive is starting to creep in:
¡Sentaros y callaros! ¡Lavaros!
iv The negative infinitive which has the value of the negative imperative is commonly
used on notices, in commercials/adverts:
No pisar el c´esped Do not walk on the grass
No fumar en el ascensor Do not smoke in the elevator/lift
No derrochar energ´ıa Do not waste energy
2.5 The negative imperative with pronouns
i When pronouns are used with the subjunctive in its negative form, they precede the
verb:
¡No lo estropees! Don’t damage it! ¡No me digas! Yo u don’t say!

¡No lo hag´ais! Don’t do it! ¡No la vendas! Don’t sell it!
¡No la abras! Don’t open it! ¡No me hables! Don’t speak to me!
¡No la escriban! Don’t write it! ¡No lo pongas all´ı! Don’t put it there!
¡No se lo d´e! Don’t give it to him!
ii Frequently, the straightforward subjunctive occurs as in the following cases:
¡Qu´etediviertas! Have a good time!
¡Qu´elo/la(M) pases bien! Have a good time
¡Qu´esealivie! (sickness) May it get better!
¡Qu´e tengas suerte! Good luck!
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