In the Mood to Command by Laura K. Lawless
The imperative (el imperativo) is a verb mood used to give a command, either affirmative (Go!) or negative (Don't go!). The imperative for all commands for Ud., Uds., and nosotros and for negative commands for tú and vosotros is formed by taking the present indicative form and then changing one letter:
Regular — AR verbs: Change the A at the beginning of the ending to E.
Regular — ER verbs: Change the E at the beginning of the ending to A.
Regular — IR verbs: In the tú, Ud., and Uds. forms, change the E at the beginning of the ending to A.
In the nosotros form, change the I of the ending to A. In the vosotros form, change the Í of the ending to ÁI. (Note that the imperative endings for — ER and — IR verbs end up being identical.)
ESSENTIAL
Affirmative commands with tú and vosotros are conjugated a bit differently: With the tú form, take the present tense conjugation and drop the final S. With the vosotros form, take the infinitive and replace the final R with a D.
— AR Verbs in the Imperative
PRESENT INDICATIVE |
POSITIVE COMMAND |
NEGATIVE COMMAND |
tú estudias |
estudia |
no estudies |
Ud. estudia |
estudie |
no estudie |
nosotros |
|
|
estudiamos |
estudiemos |
no estudiemos |
vosotros estudiáis |
estudiad |
no estudiéis |
Uds. estudian |
estudien |
no estudien |
— ER Verbs in the Imperative
PRESENT INDICATIVE |
POSITIVE COMMAND |
NEGATIVE COMMAND |
tú bebes |
bebe |
no bebas |
Ud. bebe |
beba |
no beba |
nosotros bebemos |
bebamos |
no bebamos |
vosotros bebéis |
bebed |
no bebáis |
Uds. beben |
beban |
no beban |
— IR Verbs in the Imperative
PRESENT INDICATIVE |
POSITIVE COMMAND |
NEGATIVE COMMAND |
tú abres |
abre |
no abras |
Ud. abre |
abra |
no abra |
nosotros abrimos |
abramos |
no abramos |
vosotros abrís |
abrid |
no abráis |
Uds. abren |
abran |
no abran |
