The Affirmative Imperative: Informal Commands

The imperative mood is used to give orders, instructions, or advice. In Spain, when the situation is informal (speaking to family, friends, children, or pets), we use the forms tú (singular: you) and vosotros/vosotras (plural: you all).

1. Singular Informal Commands (Tú)

To tell one person to do something in a familiar context, we use the tú form.

Formation Rule

For regular verbs, the affirmative tú command is identical to the third-person singular (él/ella) of the Present Indicative tense.

• -AR verbs: Drop the -ar and add -a.
• -ER verbs: Drop the -er and add -e.
• -IR verbs: Drop the -ir and add -e.

2. Plural Informal Commands (Vosotros/Vosotras)

This form is used in Spain to address a group of people informally. It is very simple to form and is always regular in the affirmative.

Formation Rule

Take the infinitive of the verb, drop the final letter -r, and replace it with the letter -d.

• -AR verbs: End in -ad.
• -ER verbs: End in -ed.
• -IR verbs: End in -id.

3. Pronominal and Reflexive Verbs

When using pronominal verbs (verbs ending in -se, like lavarse or levantarse), the object pronouns are attached to the end of the affirmative command to form a single word.

For "Tú" forms

Form the command normally and attach the pronoun -te to the end. Because this adds a syllable, you usually need to add an accent mark (tilde) to keep the stress on the original vowel.

For "Vosotros" forms

The rule changes slightly strictly for reflexive verbs. You drop the final -d of the imperative before adding the pronoun -os.