Formal Commands: Los mandatos formales
 _______________________ _______________________ refer to commands you give to your
friends, siblings or younger members of your family – people you would generally address as
«_________» in Spanish.
 _______________________ _______________________ refer to commands you give to your
elders and people you don’t know – people you generally address as «_____________» in
Spanish. They can also be given to a group of people – the «_____________» in Spanish.
 Informal commands take a different form in the affirmative and negative. For example:
 Speak Spanish! ________________________________
 Don’t speak English! ___________________________
Fortunately, formal commands are much easier!
 What are the four steps to making a negative informal command?
1. __________________________________________ Ex: _________________
2. __________________________________________ Ex: _________________
3. __________________________________________ Ex: _________________
4. __________________________________________ Ex: _________________
 To make formal commands – affirmative or negative – the steps are the same with the exception of
the ________________________.
 Step 1: ___________________ ________________________
 Step 2: ___________________ ________________________
 Step 3: ___________________ ________________________
Usted
Ustedes
 Remember… you’ve already seen formal commands!
 Repetir: ____________________________ (informal – tú)
gsddgdd____________________________ (formal, plural – ustedes)
 PRONOUNS!!
 In an affirmative command, pronouns go _____________________ the verb and are
_____________________ to the verb itself. An _____________________ must be added
to the syllable where the original stress was. A strategy for remember this is AAAA.

¡Escribe la carta – ¡Escríbela!

¡Escriba usted la carta! –

¡Escriban ustedes la carta! – _________________________
_________________________
 In a negative command, pronouns go _________________ the verb. This is where they
usually go!

¡No escribas la carta! –
_______________________

¡No escriba usted la carta! –
_______________________

¡No escriban ustedes la carta! –
_______________________
 IRREGULARS!
Usted
Ustedes
SER
IR
DAR
ESTAR
SABER
Note: When making a command, the subject is usually not needed because we know the command is
directed at the people to whom we are speaking. But if you add it for emphasis, it will always follow
the verb. Ex.: ¡Coma usted la manzana!
In summary: ALL regular commands take the opposite
ending of the person you are speaking to, with the exception of
the affirmative «tú»!