Spanish Affirmative and Negative Imperatives
You know the feeling: you want to tell someone to do something simple — “don’t do that,” “come here,” “tell me” — and you freeze. You know the verb, you know what you want to say, but your brain stalls on which form to use and whether the pronoun goes before or after. Spanish imperatives have a reputation for being complicated, and for good reason: the affirmative and negative forms are not mirror images of each other.
Quick answer: Spanish imperatives split into affirmative (do it) and negative (don’t do it) forms that are not simply mirror images of each other. The affirmative tú imperative typically uses the third-person present tense, while the negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive. Usted and ustedes always use the subjunctive. Vosotros has its own pattern.
The affirmative tú imperative
For most verbs, the affirmative tú imperative is simply the third-person singular of the present tense. If you can conjugate the present tense, you already know most affirmative tú commands.
| Infinitive | Present (él/ella) | Tú imperative |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | habla | habla |
| comer | come | come |
| vivir | vive | vive |
| escribir | escribe | escribe |
| abrir | abre | abre |
In practice:
¡Habla más despacio! (Speak more slowly!)
¡Come tus verduras! (Eat your vegetables!)
¡Escribe tu nombre aquí! (Write your name here!)
A practical way to lock this in is to stop thinking of the affirmative tú imperative as a separate chart and start seeing it as a reuse of a form you already know. In our interactive conjugation charts at VerbPal, that pattern becomes obvious because you can compare present-tense forms and imperative forms side by side instead of memorising them in isolation.
Pro Tip: Take five common verbs you already use every day — hablar, comer, venir, poner, escribir — and say the present él/ella form and the affirmative tú command out loud back to back. For regular verbs, they match.
The eight irregular affirmative tú imperatives
Here’s where things get tricky. Eight extremely common verbs have irregular affirmative tú imperatives that you simply have to memorise. There’s no pattern to derive them from — just learn them. VerbPal’s per-form tracking is built for exactly this: it identifies which of the eight you keep missing and keeps them on short intervals until each one is solid using spaced repetition based on the SM-2 algorithm.
| Infinitive | Irregular tú imperative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| decir | di | say / tell |
| hacer | haz | do / make |
| poner | pon | put |
| salir | sal | leave / go out |
| ser | sé | be |
| tener | ten | have |
| venir | ven | come |
| ir | ve | go |
¡Di la verdad! (Tell the truth!)
¡Haz tu cama! (Make your bed!)
¡Pon la mesa! (Set the table!)
¡Sal de aquí! (Get out of here!)
¡Sé amable con ella! (Be kind to her!)
¡Ten paciencia! (Have patience!)
¡Ven aquí! (Come here!)
¡Ve al supermercado! (Go to the supermarket!)
A memory shortcut for the eight irregulars: Di Haz Pon Sal Sé Ten Ven Ve. Some learners remember the phrase "Di haz pon sal, sé ten ven ve" — it doesn't mean anything, but the rhythm sticks. Once you've heard it a few times, the list comes back automatically.
Pro Tip: Don’t study these eight as a passive list. Type them from memory in random order. Active production is what makes them usable in conversation.
The negative tú imperative
The negative tú imperative does NOT use the third-person present form. Instead, it uses the present subjunctive with no in front. This is one of the most important distinctions in Spanish grammar — and one of the most common errors in real conversation, where the pressure to produce quickly makes the wrong form surface first. VerbPal’s timed drills put you in exactly this situation: produce the correct form before the timer fires, or it counts as a miss.
Formation: no + present subjunctive (tú form)
For -ar verbs, the subjunctive tú form ends in -es. For -er and -ir verbs, it ends in -as.
| Infinitive | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | habla | no hables |
| comer | come | no comas |
| vivir | vive | no vivas |
| decir | di | no digas |
| hacer | haz | no hagas |
| poner | pon | no pongas |
| salir | sal | no salgas |
| ser | sé | no seas |
| tener | ten | no tengas |
| venir | ven | no vengas |
| ir | ve | no vayas |
No hables tan rápido, por favor. (Don’t speak so fast, please.)
No hagas eso. (Don’t do that.)
No vayas solo. (Don’t go alone.)
The key mental shortcut is simple: if the command is negative, think subjunctive first. That rule also helps later with usted, ustedes, reflexives, and the subjunctive more broadly. Since we cover all tenses, irregulars, reflexives, and the subjunctive in VerbPal, this form does not sit in a grammar silo — you keep seeing how it connects to the rest of the language.
Pro Tip: When you practise, pair each affirmative with its negative: habla / no hables, ven / no vengas, haz / no hagas. The contrast is what helps the rule stick.
Usted and ustedes imperatives
When you use the formal register (usted) or speak to a group (ustedes), the imperative always uses the present subjunctive — for both affirmative and negative commands. This makes usted/ustedes simpler than tú: there’s only one system, not two different ones.
Usted: use the subjunctive él/ella form
Hable más despacio, por favor. (Speak more slowly, please.)
No coma tan rápido. (Don’t eat so fast.)
Ustedes: use the subjunctive ellos/ellas form
Hablen con el gerente. (Speak with the manager.)
No hagan ruido. (Don’t make noise.)
In Latin America, ustedes also replaces vosotros, so this form covers all plural commands.
Pro Tip: If you’re unsure whether a command should be formal, default to usted. Grammatically, it is cleaner than tú because both affirmative and negative forms use the same subjunctive system.
The vosotros imperative
Used in Spain for addressing a group informally. The affirmative vosotros imperative is formed by dropping the final -r from the infinitive and adding -d.
| Infinitive | Vosotros imperative |
|---|---|
| hablar | hablad |
| comer | comed |
| vivir | vivid |
¡Comed antes de salir! (Eat before you leave!)
The negative vosotros imperative uses the present subjunctive vosotros form:
No habléis tan alto. (Don’t speak so loudly.)
No comáis en clase. (Don’t eat in class.)
Pro Tip: If you don’t use Peninsular Spanish, recognise these forms when you read or hear them, but prioritise ustedes commands in your own practice first.
Object pronoun placement with imperatives
This is where learners often make mistakes. The rule is clean:
- Affirmative imperatives: pronouns attach to the end of the verb
- Negative imperatives: pronouns go between no and the verb
VerbPal’s spaced repetition means forms like dímelo and no me lo digas get reviewed at the right intervals — frequently enough when they’re new, then gradually spaced out as they become automatic.
Affirmative — pronouns attached:
¡Dímelo! (Tell it to me!) (di + me + lo)
¡Cómpraselo! (Buy it for yourself!)
¡Escúchame! (Listen to me!)
Negative — pronouns separate:
¡No me lo digas! (Don’t tell it to me!)
¡No te vayas! (Don’t go!)
¡No lo hagas! (Don’t do it!)
When multiple pronouns attach to an affirmative imperative, you may need to add an accent mark to preserve the original stress: dime → dímelo, compra → cómpraselo.
Think of negative imperatives as always using the subjunctive — for all persons. If you already know the present subjunctive, you know every negative imperative form. The only special case is the affirmative tú imperative, which has its own logic. Master that one set of eight irregulars and the rest of the imperative system becomes consistent.
Pro Tip: Practise pronoun placement in pairs: dímelo / no me lo digas, escúchame / no me escuches. If you only study one side, you’ll hesitate on the other.
Knowing the rule is one thing — producing it under pressure is another. That's the gap our drills are built to close. If imperative forms still feel slippery, use VerbPal's custom drills to isolate affirmative vs negative commands, irregular tú forms, or pronoun combinations until they stop feeling like separate grammar facts and start behaving like recallable language.
Put imperatives into practice →Frequently asked questions
Why are affirmative and negative tú imperatives so different?
They come from different historical sources. The affirmative tú imperative descends from the Latin second-person singular indicative, while the negative uses the subjunctive — which was historically used for indirect or hypothetical instructions. Spanish preserved this distinction while most other Romance languages simplified it.
What happens to reflexive verbs in the imperative?
Reflexive pronouns follow the same placement rule as other pronouns: attach to affirmative imperatives, place before negative ones. ¡Levántate! (Get up!) vs ¡No te levantes! (Don’t get up!). Note the accent in levántate to preserve stress.
How do I know when to use tú vs usted imperatives?
Use the tú imperative for people you address as tú — friends, family, children, close colleagues. Use the usted imperative for strangers, superiors, older people, or anyone you’d address formally. In case of doubt, usted is always safer and more polite.
Are there imperatives for nosotros (let’s…)?
Yes. The nosotros subjunctive form works as a first-person plural command. ¡Hablemos! (Let’s talk!), ¡Comamos! (Let’s eat!). You can also use vamos a + infinitive for the same meaning: ¡Vamos a hablar! (Let’s talk!) — which many learners find easier to produce quickly.
Do stem-changing verbs have irregular imperatives?
Stem-changing verbs carry their stem change into the imperative. The affirmative tú form still follows the 3rd-person-present pattern, which already has the stem change: dormir → duerme, poder → puede, pedir → pide. For the negative, the subjunctive carries the same stem change: no duermas, no puedas, no pidas.
If you want these forms to come out correctly in real speech, don’t stop at reading the explanation. Practise them by typing full forms and full commands. That’s why we built VerbPal around active production rather than passive recognition.