Los Mandatos:

Commands
Spanish 3 unit 3: Pt 1
Affirmative tú
commands
 Affirmative tú commands are the
same as the él/ella/Ud. conjugation of
the present tense and are used to tell
someone you are familiar with TO DO
something. It is still considered a tú
form.

Ej. Listen! – ¡Escucha!

Talk! -- ¡Habla!
Write! -- ¡Escribe!
 Let’s refresh on our present-tense
conjugation forms:
-AR verbs -ER/IR verbs
-emos/ -imos*
-o -amos -o
-éis/-ís*
-as -áis -es
-a -an -e -en
• Since we are now using the él/ella/Usted conjugation, regular
verbs ending in –AR will get the “–a” ending and regular verbs
ending in –ER/-IR will get the “–e” ending
• Remember that this is now being used as a COMMAND form, and
thus technically now is a tú form and no longer has él/ella/Usted
as the subject
 Práctica:
Conjugate as a MANDATO INFORMAL
(informal command):
1.Dance! – bailar = ¡_________________!
2.Run! – correr = ¡_________________!
3.Eat! – comer = ¡_________________!
4.Give! – dar = ¡_________________!
5.Share! – compartir = ¡______________!
As always, there are a few irregulars in the tú
affirmative command form:

• Venir – ven = Come!

• Decir – di = Say/Tell!
• Salir – sal = Leave!
• Hacer – haz = Do/Make!
• Tener – ten = Have!
• Ir – ve = Go!
• Poner – pon = Put!
• Ser – sé = Be!
• We use the phrase Vin Diesal has ten weapons, eh? to
remember these verbs!
Negative tú
commands
Negative tú commands are used to tell
someone you are familiar with TO
NOT DO something.

Ej. Don’t listen! – ¡No escuches!

Don’t talk! -- ¡No hables!
Don’t write! -- ¡No escribas!
 Negative tú conjugation:
1. Go to the “yo” form
2. Drop the “-o”
3. Add the opposite ending
-AR verbs -ER/-IR verbs
--------- --------- --------- ---------
-es --------- -as ---------
--------- --------- --------- ---------

4. Add “no” in front of the verb

 As always, there are a few irregulars in the tú
negative command form:
• S – ser  No seas
• I – ir  No vayas
• D – dar  No des
• E – estar  No estés
• S – saber  No sepas
• All of these verbs can be identified as irregular because they have
irregular yo forms and can’t follow the conjugation formation for
commands!
• -CAR/-GAR/-ZAR verbs now apply: cques, ggues, zces
 Affirmative
Usted/Ustedes
commands (formal
commands)
 Affirmative Usted commands are
used to tell someone you are
unfamiliar with TO DO something

Affirmative Ustedes commands are

used to tell a group of people TO
DO something
 Affirmative Ud/Uds. conjugation:
1.Go to the “yo” form
2.Drop the “-o”
3.Add the opposite ending
-AR verbs -ER/-IR verbs
--------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- --------- ---------
-e -en -a -an
 Práctica:
Conjugate in the USTED form (formal
command)
1.Dance! – bailar = ¡_________________!
2.Run! – correr = ¡_________________!
3.Eat! – comer = ¡_________________!
4.Give! – dar = ¡_________________!
5.Share! – compartir = ¡______________!
 The irregulars in both the Usted/Ustedes
forms are the same

• S – ser  sea/sean = Be!

• I – ir  vaya/vayan = Go!
• D – dar  dé/den = Give!
• E – estar  esté/estén = Be!
• S – saber  sepa/sepan = Know!
• All of these verbs can be identified as irregular because they have irregular yo
forms and can’t follow the conjugation formation for commands!
• -CAR/-GAR/-ZAR verbs now apply:
cque/quen, ggue/guen, zce/cen
 Negative Ud./Uds. conjugation:
1. Go to the “yo” form
2. Drop the “-o”
3. Add the opposite ending
-AR verbs -ER/-IR verbs
--------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- --------- ---------
-e -en -a -an

4. Add “no” in front of the verb

 Negative irregulars are the same as
affirmative irregulars
• S – ser  No sea/no sean
• I – ir  No vaya/vayan
• D – dar  No dé/den
• E – estar  No esté/estén
• S – saber  No sepa/sepan
• All of these verbs can be identified as irregular because they have
irregular yo forms and can’t follow the conjugation formation for
commands!
• -CAR/-GAR/-ZAR verbs now apply:
c-que/quen, g-gue/guen, z-ce/cen
 Para formar el mandato con un
pronombre:
Sentar(se) Sienta(te) Siéntate

The stress naturally falls on the second-to-last syllable

if the word ends in a vowel, n, or s.
When the pronoun is added, it adds an additional
syllable. An accent must be added to maintain the
original pronunciation.