The Affirmative Imperative

📌 Nota gramatical

To give an affirmative command to someone you address as 'tú', use the third-person singular (él/ella) form of the present indicative. For -ar verbs, use -a; for -er and -ir verbs, use -e.

📌 Nota gramatical

Eight common verbs have short, irregular forms for the affirmative 'tú' command: decir (di), hacer (haz), ir (ve), poner (pon), salir (sal), ser (sé), tener (ten), venir (ven). Memory aid: 'Pon Sal Haz Ve Di Ten Sé Ven'.

📌 Nota gramatical

To command someone politely using 'usted', take the first-person singular (yo) of the present indicative, drop the -o, and add the opposite vowel: -e/-en for -ar verbs, and -a/-an for -er/-ir verbs.

📌 Nota gramatical

To address a group informally in Spain, take the infinitive of the verb, drop the final -r, and add a -d. Example: hablar -> hablad, comer -> comed, vivir -> vivid.

📌 Nota gramatical

The 'ustedes' command uses the third-person plural of the present subjunctive. It is formed by taking the 'yo' form of the present indicative, dropping the -o, and adding -en (for -ar verbs) or -an (for -er/-ir verbs).

📌 Nota gramatical

In affirmative commands, direct, indirect, and reflexive pronouns must be attached directly to the end of the verb. Count back syllables to determine if a written accent mark (tilde) is needed.

📌 Nota gramatical

Verbs that undergo stem changes in the present indicative (e->ie, o->ue, e->i) keep these same vowel changes in the 'tú', 'usted', 'vosotros', and 'ustedes' affirmative imperative forms.

📌 Nota gramatical

In formal commands (usted/ustedes) and negative forms, verbs ending in -car, -gar, and -zar change their spelling before 'e' to preserve the pronunciation: c->qu, g->gu, z->c.

📌 Nota gramatical

When pronouns are attached to affirmative commands, the length of the word increases. To keep the original stress, a written accent mark (tilde) is added if the word ends in a vowel, -n, or -s and violates natural stress rules.

📌 Nota gramatical

When attaching the reflexive pronoun 'os' to the 'vosotros' affirmative imperative, drop the final -d of the verb (except with 'irirse', which becomes 'idos'). Example: levantaros -> levantaos.

📌 Nota gramatical

Verbs that are irregular in the 'yo' present indicative (like tener, poner, salir) maintain that irregularity in formal commands because these commands derive from the 'yo' form. Irregular subjunctives like ser (sea), ir (vaya), saber (sepa), dar (dé) have special forms.

📌 Nota gramatical

The affirmative imperative is frequently used at level A2 for recipes, giving directions, classroom instructions, and friendly advice. Tone changes depending on whether you use tú or usted.