Los MandatosEl imperativo

Used to give orders or to make requests. In order to not sound rude or abrupt,

intonation and attitude are important, as well as appropriate use of informal & formal you.

There are really only 3 tenses, which indicate when action occurs: past, present, future.

Verbs may also have aspect, which indicates the time duration/flow: progressive, perfect.

Verbs also have mood/mode, indicating speaker’s attitude: indicative, subjunctive, imperative.

Verbs: Tense, Aspect, Mood

Indicative mood:◦ Declarative statements.◦ Acts or states that are real, factual, objective

Subjunctive mood:◦ Acts or states that are possible, contingent,

hopeful, dependent, etc. They are not stated as facts They live in the realm of possibility

Imperative mood:◦ Expresses intention to influence what listener

does.

While the imperative is technically a mood/mode in and of itself, we are going to talk about it in terms of indicative and subjunctive.

Tú Commands: AffirmativeSingular, informal, affirmative

What are the characteristics of an informal relationship?

Can you reasonably expect that in this relationship you can control the outcome—the desired behavior?

Is the speaker’s attitude factual?

Form singular, informal, affirmative commands by using the 3rd person singular indicative.◦ Escribes una carta.

You write a letter. --statement of fact.◦ Escribe una carta.

He/she/you formal write a letter. --statement of fact. (You, informal) Write a letter.--command, informal

Context will make clear if sentence is declarative or imperative.

How to form:

Irregular Informal Commands Ven Di Sal Haz Ten Ve Pon Sé

◦ Vin Diesal has 10 weapons.

Venir Decir Salir Hacer Tener Ir Poner Ser

Tu amiga quiere mejorar sus notas. Dile que necesita hacer. Hacer la tarea. Ir a clase todos los días. Salir temprano para el colegio. Escuchar bien en clase. Trabajar en clase. Venir conmigo a la biblioteca. Ser trabajadora. Tener los útiles contigo.

Haz la tarea. Ve a clase todos los días. Sal temprano para el colegio. Escucha bien en clase. Trabaja en clase. Ven conmigo a la biblioteca. Sé trabajadora. Ten los útiles contigo.

Commands & PronounsAffirmative TúObject/Reflexive

Where do object and reflexive pronouns typically go in a sentence?◦ With a conjugated verb?◦ With an infinitive?◦ With the gerundio?

While the command is a conjugated form of the verb, object and reflexive pronouns ATTACH to the affirmative command.

Attaching a pronoun often adds an extra syllable to the verb, which often requires the addition of an accent to maintain the original pronunciation of the verb--the more important part of the sentence/phrase.

Put on your shoes. (ponerse)◦ Ponte los zapatos.

Put on them. (the shoes)◦ Póntelos.

Throw.◦ Tira.

Throw it. (la pelota)◦ Tírala.

Throw it to her.◦ Tírasela.

Tell her. ◦ Dile.

Tell her it.◦ Dísela.

Give me it. (la pluma)◦ Dámela.

Remember pronouns go in reverse alphabetical order when used together.◦ IO before DO◦ Reflexive before DO

◦ And by extension reflexive before IO before DO But this is something which is rarely used and way

beyond the Spanish you need to use in level 2.

Ud. Commands Formal, singular

Ud. commands are formed the same as the present subjunctive.

Technically the imperative and subjunctive are two different moods/modes.◦ But they are similar in conjugation.

Affirmative Ud. commands

Start with the “yo” form of the present indicative.◦Hablo◦Como◦Escribo

How to form Ud. commands

Drop the –o ending◦Habl◦Com◦Escrib

For –ar verbs add “e” and for –er and –ir verbs add “a” (i.e. the opposite ending)◦Hable◦Coma◦Escriba

Hable (Ud.) lentamente. Coma (Ud.) la cena. Escriba (Ud.) la carta

Ejemplos

If the 1st person “yo” form is irregular, that irregular will exist in the command form.

◦Yo tengo = Tenga (Ud.) un buen fin de semana.

◦Yo vengo = Venga (Ud.) conmigo

Remember!

This also applies to verbs with stem-changes in the “yo” form.

◦ Yo pido = Pida (Ud.) dinero.

◦ Yo cuento = Cuente (Ud.) sus beneficios.

◦ Yo duermo = Duerma (Ud.)

◦ Yo repito = Repita (Ud.) por favor.

Dar = dé

Estar = esté

Ir = vaya

Ser = sea

Saber = sepa

Irregular verbs

To tell someone (formal) not to do something (or really request that he/she not do it), put a no in front of the command.

◦Hable Ud. → No hable Ud.

◦Coma Ud. → No coma Ud.

◦Repita Ud. → No repita Ud.

Negative commands?

Add an “n” to the Ud. Command

◦ Hable → Hablen (No hablen)

◦ Coma → Coman (No coman)

◦ Repita → Repitan (No repitan)

◦ Pida → Pidan (No pidan)

Uds. Commands: Plural

Remember: for affirmative tú commands all you had to do was drop the “s” from the 2nd person, singular, present indicative conjugation (except for the 8 irregular)

◦Habla◦Come◦Escriba◦Duerme

Negative tú commands

To make informal commands negative◦ Add and “s” to the Ud. command ◦ And a no infront of the command

◦ Habla → No hables◦ Come → No comas◦ Escribe → No escribas◦ Duerma → No duermas◦ Pide → No pidas