Spanish grammar: imperativo afirmativo

What this grammar point covers

The 'imperativo afirmativo' in Spanish is the form used to give direct commands, instructions, or requests to one or more people.

When to use it

Use the Spanish affirmative imperative to tell someone what to do, give advice, instructions, or orders, or encourage someone to take action.

Key forms

• Tú: usa la raíz del verbo y cambia la terminación (por ejemplo, 'habla', 'come', 'vive').
• Vosotros/as: usa la raíz y añade '-d' (por ejemplo, 'hablad', 'comed', 'vivid').
• Usted y ustedes: usa el presente de subjuntivo ('hable', 'coman').

Examples

Tips

• Remember that the endings for 'tú' commands are different from the present tense endings.
• For negative commands, the forms are different (they use the subjunctive).
• Some verbs are irregular in the imperative, so memorize the most common ones.

Exceptions and edge cases

• Some verbs like 'ir', 'ser', 'tener', 'venir', 'poner', 'salir', 'hacer', and 'decir' have irregular forms (for example: 've', 'sé', 'ten', 'ven', 'pon', 'sal', 'haz', 'di' for 'tú').