16.7 Telling Someone to Do Something Language Lesson

16.7 Telling Someone to Do Something
Language & Culture Lessons
Imagine walking into your Spanish class, and the teacher begins to talk, saying:
Buenos días clase. Siéntense por favor. Miren la pizarra. Escuchen por favor. Repitan después de mí. ¡Su atención, por
favor!
When someone tells you to do something, he or she is most likely using commands. In Spanish, there are formal and
informal commands, depending on the person with whom you are speaking.
In this lesson, you'll learn how to tell someone to do something in formal situations.
Language Lesson
Giving Formal Commands
First, I want to explain to you how to give formal orders by using the imperative form of verbs. Typically, these are
used with anyone you would refer to as Usted or Ustedes.
The good news is, there are only two forms of formal commands AND if you are already familiar with the Present
Subjunctive - you already know how to form them.
So, get started! ¡Empiecen!
Formal commands are IDENTICAL to the Present Subjunctive forms of Usted and Ustedes.
¿Te acuerdas?
Remember the 3 steps to form the Present Subjunctive? Yes, first, they are made from the 'Yo' form of the present
tense. Then, you drop the -o, and verbs ending in -AR will take endings with the letter 'e'. While -ER and -IR verbs will
take endings with the letter 'a'. So, the command forms also require the opposite vowel from the present tense.
To give a polite command to one person:
1. Take the first person singular('Yo' form) of the verb
2. Remove the 'o'
3. Then...
If it's an -AR verb → Add an 'e'
If it's an -ER or -IR verb → Add an 'a'
To form a plural command :
1. Take the first person singular('Yo' form) of the verb
2. Remove the 'o'
3. Then...
If it's an -AR verb → Add an 'en'
If it's an -ER or -IR verb → Add an 'an'
Check out the following chart for examples of Regular Formal commands for -AR, ER, and -IR verbs:
Subject
Hablar
Comer
Abrir
Ud.
Hable
Coma
Abra
Uds.
Hablen
Coman
Abran
Eat!
Open!
Speak!
¡Abra la boca bien grande!
Open you mouth nice and wide!
¡Practiquen!
Now, pretend you are a teacher and practice commanding your students in your class. The first column provides you
with the infinitive of the verb and the person (Ud. or Uds.) - practice the commands by covering the left column
where I give you the correct affirmative formal imperatives.
¡Prepárense! (Prepare Yourselves!)
Infinitive
Spanish
English
levantar
Levanten la mano.
Raise your hand.
escuchar
Escuchen bien.
Listen well.
abrir
Abran sus libros.
Open your books.
mirar
Miren la pizarra.
Look at the board.
pasar
Pasen la tarea.
Pass the homework.
repetir
Repitan después de mí.
Repeat after me.
STOP!
Commanding with Irregular 'Yo' forms
As you often find throughout the Spanish language, you must account for Irregularities. Any irregularity in the 'Yo'
form of the present tense will also be seen in the formal commands.
Infinitive
Irregular 'Yo'
Ud./Uds. command
conducir
conduzco
Conduzca/Conduzcan
conocer
conozco
Conozca/Conozcan
decir
digo
Diga/Digan
oir
Oiga/Oigan
oigo
poner
pongo
Ponga/Pongan
salir
salgo
Salga/Salgan
tener
tengo
Tenga/Tengan
traer
traigo
Traiga/Traigan
venir
vengo
Venga/Vengan
ver
veo
Vea/Vean
Commanding with Stem-changing verbs
There always seems to be set of stem-changing verbs in Spanish. When there's a vowel change in the stem, keep that
stem-change when forming formal commands.
Infinitive
Stem change
'Yo' form
Command
pensar
e > ie
pienso
Piense/Piensen
volver
o > ue
vuelvo
Vuelva/Vuelvan
pedir
e>i
pido
Pida/Pidan
Commanding with Spelling-changing verbs
Spelling changes to maintain the sound of the original verb. All verbs that end with -gar, -car, and -zar have spelling
changes in the formal command forms:
For verbs ending in -GAR
The 'g' goes to 'gu ' in verbs such as: jugar
So, Yo juego becomes Juegue to command one person to "Play!" or Jueguen. This is also true in the
verb: llegar (to arrive) Yo llego → Llegue or Lleguen "Arrive!" to address more than one person.
For verbs ending in -CAR
The 'c' goes to 'qu ' in verbs such as: buscar (to look for)
Yo busco becomes Busque to command someone you usually address as Ud. And, Busquen, for
people you address as Uds. Also in the verb: tocar - which means "to touch" or "to play (the guitar)":
Yo toco → Toque / Toquen (Play!)
For verbs ending in -ZAR
The 'z' changes to a 'c' in verbs such as: empezar "to begin"
The 'Yo' form of the present tense is Yo empiezo. You drop the -o and add 'e' and get: Empieze – here's
where we have to change the 'z' to a 'c' and the correct command form is: Empiece or for the plural
command, Empiecen (Begin!)
¡Memorizen!
Memorize the chart below!
Infinitive
'Yo' form
Spelling change
Command
jugar
juego
g > gu
Juegue/Jueguen
sacar
saco
c > qu
Saque/Saquen
abrazar
abrazo
z>c
Abrace/Abracen
Truly Irregular Commands
Some verbs have Irregular formal command forms, that …you will have to simply MEMORIZE! The following table
shows you the 5 Irregular Formal Commands:
Infinitive
'Yo' form
Ud. command
Uds. command
ir (to go)
voy
Vaya
Vayan
ser (to be)
soy
Sea
Sean
saber (to know)
sé
Sepa
Sepan
estar (to be)
estoy
Esté
Estén
dar (to give)
doy
Dé
Den
**Note that except for 'saber' (to know), all of the verbs above end in '-oy' in the present tense YO forms.
Por ejemplo:
Vayan con el maestro.
Go with the professor.
Sea amable.
Be kind.
Sepan todo para mañana.
Know everything for tomorrow.
Esté aquí a las seis.
Be here at six.
Den la respuesta.
Give the answer.
Taking a Negative Turn
Taking a negative approach when telling someone to do something is a piece of cake. Just take the word 'NO' (Don't,
Not) and add whichever command you wish.
No sea tonto.
Don't be foolish.
No hablen en la clase.
Do not talk in class.
No coma con la boca abierta.
Don't eat with your mouth open.
Tacking the Pronouns
When you talk about commands, you need to know what to do with the pronouns that often get tacked onto them including reflexive pronouns and object pronouns.
So, the last thing to remember about Formal Command forms is the placement of Pronouns! Unlike other conjugated
forms, Command forms have unique rules for pronoun placement.
1. When pronouns are used with AFFIRMATIVE command forms, the pronouns are attached to the END.
2. If the command is NEGATIVE, the pronouns must come BEFORE the verb.
Take a look at the following examples and see where the pronouns are placed. Note the placement of accent marks!
¡Mírenlo!
Look at it!
POSITIVE COMMANDS
Levántense.
Get up.
Sírvalo.
Serve it.
Sígame.
Follow me.
Póngalas.
Put them (on).
Límpiense.
Clean yourselves.
NEGATIVE COMMANDS
No se levanten.
Don't get up.
No lo sirva.
Don't serve it.
No me siga.
Don't follow me.
No las ponga.
Don't put them (on).
No se limpien.
Don't clean yourselves.
¡ATENCIÒN!
As you have seen above, accent marks are required in most affirmative commands with attached pronouns.
The rule is...
When a pronoun attached to an affirmative command that has two or more syllables, an accent mark is
added to maintain the original stress.
Culture
Football and FIFA
No other sport competes in popularity with football worldwide. And by football I refer to soccer or association
football, where its players become role-model celebrities for people of all social classes, religions and cultures.
Children inherit their family's team, celebrations of an important victory take over the streets, and some workplaces
will even stop working if their country is playing at the FIFA world cup.
When Football is played among professionals, it's up to the FIFA - the French acronym for International Federation of
Association Football- to establish rules, penalties and policies for the 208 country members, each one with its own
association. It is also in charge of the organization of the World Cup every 4 years, a wealthy business that in 2006
raised €2.6 billion in marketing and sponsorship revenue.
If you ever visit Latin America, you might notice that the working men in general are not as interested in business
(their work) as they are in the action on the field.
This passion for soccer is seen at the stadium, through an improvised match at a friend's barbeque or through the
gossip pages of a magazine - fully disclosing who the lucky girls are who get to date the players.
But don't expect European glamour, like David Beckham selling razor blades and flying on private planes. In Latin
America, football legends are middle class, and only a few names in the industry can afford first class tickets or
convertible cars.
For them, it's all about the sport!
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