Commands
Imperativo
Affirmative and negative tú/usted commands.
The rule
Affirmative tú commands look like the él/ella present: habla, come, abre: 'Habla más despacio', 'Abre la boquita'. Eight verbs go rogue and are worth knowing cold: pon (poner), ten (tener), ven (venir), sal (salir), haz (hacer), di (decir), ve (ir), sé (ser): 'Ven acá', 'Ten cuidado', 'Dame la mano' (da + me). NEGATIVE tú commands switch to the present subjunctive: no hables, no comas, no toques, no vayas (never «no habla»).
Pronouns follow a strict geography: they ATTACH to the end of an affirmative command (dámelo, siéntate, lávate las manos, often adding an accent to keep the stress) but go BEFORE a negative one (no me lo des, no te levantes). Usted commands use the subjunctive in both directions: hable / no hable, pase / no pase: the polite register for the doctor's office or a stranger. Around the house with a toddler this is bread and butter: ven, dame, mira, ten cuidado, no toques, siéntate.
Examples
Ven acá, mi amor.
Come here, my love. (irregular tú command: venir → ven)
Dame la manita.
Give me your little hand. (da + me attached)
No toques el enchufe.
Don't touch the socket. (negative = subjunctive)
Siéntate, que ya llega la comida.
Sit down, food's coming. (pronoun attached, accent added)
Pase, por favor.
Come in, please. (usted command = subjunctive)
Try it yourself
Three quick questions, straight from the app. No sign-up needed.
¡___ acá, que te pongo los zapatos!
Come here, let me put your shoes on!
All 14 Commands questions, free in Hablaba
Hablaba spots this exact rule in your real conversations and points you back to the quiz for it. The drills feed the speaking, which is the point of the whole app.
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