How to Give Orders

In this lesson we will learn how to use the Imperative tense.

Stop! Photo by Zan on Unsplash

The Imperative tense is used to give:

Orders: ¡Portate bien! (Behave yourself!)

Instructions: Inserte su tarjeta y presione ENTER. (Insert your card and press Enter.)

Advice: Si vas a Buenos Aires, comé bife de chorizo. (If you go to Buenos Aires, eat a bife de chorizo.)

Advertisments: Compre sus frutas en Minimark. (Buy your fruits in Minimark.)

Invitations: Pasá, Sentate/ Subí (Pass, sit down, get up,)

With the imperative, we will take a look at some differences between “Tú” and “Vos” (you, singular and informal).

How do you form the imperative?

VOS:

Vos is almost always regular: We take off the R and we add an accent. Tomár/Comé/Viví (drink/eat/live)

TÚ:

When the verb is ended in AR, for example: JUGAR, we have to think of Jugar in Present tense (Juego), and change o to A: JuegA

When the verb is ended in ER, for example: VOLVER,  we have to think in Volver in the present tense (Vuelvo), and change o to E: Vuelve

When the verb is ended in IR, for example: PEDIR, we have to think of Pedir in the present tense (Pido), and change o to E Pide

There are some Irregular Verbs in Tú, verbs that end in Go in the present tense in the first person: Tener-Ten/Decir-Dí/Hacer-Haz/ Poner-Pon/Traer-Trae/Venir-Ven/Salir-Sal

USTED:

Usted in the imperative is like Yo in the present tense, but when the verb ends in AR it will change the o to E and when it ends in ER- IR its will change to A.

Example: Usted JueguE/Usted TengA/Usted VivA

USTEDES:

Ustedes is like Usted but adding “n”: Ustedes Jueguen/Ustedes Tengan/Ustedes Vivan.

Completely Irregular Verbs:

• IR: Vos Andá/Tú Ve/Usted Vaya/Ustedes Vayan

• SER: Vos Sé/Tú Sé/Usted Sea/Ustedes Sean

• ESTAR: Vos Estáte/Tú Está/Usted Esté/Ustedes Estén

• DAR: Vos Da/Tú Da/Usted Dé/Ustedes Den

• SABER: Vos Sabé/Tú Sabe/Usted Sepa/Ustedes Sepan

When we use pronouns with the imperative tense, in the affirmative form we add them to the end:

• Dáselo, él se lo merece. (Give it to him, he deserves it.)

• Pedímelo “por favor”. (Ask me for it, “please.”)

• Duchate, tenés mal olor. (Take a shower, you smell bad.)

The Imperative in the negative form is different than in the affirmative form.

In the negative form, Tú/Vos use the same conjugation as Usted but adds a “S”.

For example, we take the usted form: Usted haga su trabajo (Do your work.)

And add the s:

• Vos no Hagas tu trabajo (Don’t do your work.)

• Tú no Hagas tu trabajo. (Don’t do your work.)

The pronouns go before the verb:

• Afirmative: ¡Lavate las manos! (Wash your hands!)

• Negative: ¡No te las laves! (Don’t wash them!)

• Afirmative: Decíme la verdad. (Tell me the truth)

• Negative: No me la digas, es muy dolorosa. (Don’t tell me it, it is very painful)

Now, for little practice, we are going to learn how to prepare “Mate”, a traditional Argentine tea drink. The imperative is frequently used to give instructions or in recipes, so this is a good way to learn. Like in most instructions, we are going to use the form “Usted”. The words in bold are the uses of the imperative:

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Caliente agua en la pava, es importante que no hierva. Ponga yerba en el mate. Tape la boca del mate con una mano y agítela para quitarle el polvo a la yerba. Agregue una gota de agua fría en la yerba y luego inserte la bombilla. Si le gustan las bebidas dulces, agregue un poquito de azúcar. Finalmente eche agua caliente solo donde está la bombilla (es mejor no mojar toda el agua) y beba hasta que se termine el agua. Nunca mueva la bombilla (esta acción separa el agua de la yerba y pierde su sabor original: el mate “se lava”). Si está con otras personas, comparta el mate. Usted es el “cebador”: la persona que sirve siempre el mate.

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Practice Exercise ( For Paid Subscribers Only)

Similar to the mate instructions above, order the next verbs in the correct order to form the instructions of how to prepare empanadas and conjugate the verbs in Usted.

• Cortar aceitunas

• Hornear las empanadas hasta que estén doradas