Tú Commands
(Los mandatos de la forma tú)
Dame la linterna,
por favor.
Tú Commands
For regular affirmative commands . . .
Think like él.
The regular affirmative tú command
has the same form as the él form of
the verb in the present indicative.
Tú Commands
For regular affirmative commands . . .
Él habla.  ¡Habla tú!
He speaks.
Speak!
Él come.  ¡Come tú!
He eats.
Eat!
Él escribe.  ¡Escribe tú!
He writes.
Write!
Tú Commands
For regular negative commands . . .
Revert to the subjunctive.
The negative tú command has the same form as
the tú form of the verb in the present subjunctive.
Tú Commands
For regular negative commands . . .
Affirmative
¡Habla!
Negative
¡No hables!
Speak!
Don’t speak!
¡Come!
¡No comas!
Eat!
¡Escribe!
Write!
Don’t eat!
¡No escribas!
Don’t write!
Tú Commands
In Capítulo 11 you learned that formal commands used the
forms of the subjunctive. The informal (tú) commands, by
contrast, use the subjunctive only in their negative forms.
Notice the following chart.
Infinitive
comprar
comer
escribir
pensar
dormir
pedir
traer
Affirmative
compra
come
escribe
piensa
duerme
pide
trae
Negative
(Subjunctive)
no compres
no comas
no escribas
no pienses
no duermas
no pidas
no traigas
(compres)
(comas)
(escribas)
(pienses)
(duermas)
(pidas)
(traigas)
Remember . . .
Tú Commands
Regular affirmative tú commands have the same form as the
third-person singular of the present indicative.
Recicla los platos de papel.
Protege nuestros bosques.
Recycle the paper plates.
Protect our forests.
Negative tú commands use the subjunctive.
No cortes los árboles pequeños. Don’t cut down the small
trees.
Don’t close the factory
No cierres la fábrica todavía.
yet.
Irregularities in the subjunctive will also appear in the
negative tú commands.
No conduzcas tan rápido.
No te vayas.
Don’t drive so fast.
Don’t leave.
Verbs with irregular affirmative forms
When listed in the following order, the initial letters of each verb
provide the acronym TVVDSHIPS, a useful memory device.
Verb
Affirmative command
Tener
Venir
Valer
D ecir
Salir
H acer
Ir
Poner
Ser
ten
ven
val
di
sal
haz
ve
pon
sé
Negative command
no tengas
no vengas
no valgas
no digas
no salgas
no hagas
no vayas
no pongas
no seas
Verbs with irregular affirmative forms
Some sample sentences using irregular forms:
Ten confianza.
Ven a mi oficina.
No tengas miedo.
No vengas tarde.
Di la verdad.
Sal inmediatamente.
Haz la inspección.
Ve a la reunión.
Pon el libro en la mesa.
Sé amable con todos.
No digas tonterías.
No salgas sin mí.
No me hagas enojar.
No te vayas.
No pongas esa cara.
No seas grosero.
Object pronouns with tú commands
As with the formal commands, attach pronouns to the end of
affirmative commands and place them in front of the
negative command. Remember to place an accent on the
next-to-last syllable of the verb in the affirmative command
form.
Recíclala mañana.
Recycle it tomorrow.
No le pongas la multa a la estudiante.
Don’t give the fine to the student.
Object pronouns with tú commands
The irregular affirmative command forms (except for sé) do
not take a written accent unless more than one pronoun is
added to the end of the verb.
¿La mesa? Sí, ponla por favor.
The table? Yes, set it, please.
Dime, ¿adónde vas?
Tell me, where are you going?
¿Sabes su teléfono? Dímelo, por favor.
Do you know his telephone number? Tell
it to me, please.
FIN