Severn Spanish

Usted/ustedes commands II

 

 

Introduction

By now, you are familiar with the imperative mood and with giving commands. However, thus far you have only worked with tú commands. It is also possible to give usted commands, and, if you are addressing multiple people, ustedes commands. You should be comfortable with implied subjects and the formation of all tú commands before beginning this section.

 

Usted Commands

The nice things about the commands in this section is that the affirmative and negative forms are the same — you don’t need to learn a separate conjugation for each, like for tú commands.

Usted (and ustedes) commands are very similar to negative tú commands. Start with the present tense yo form, drop the -o, and add the appropriate ending:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some examples, first basic conjugations and then more complex commands.

escribir → escriba

cantar → cante

comer → coma

(Lavar) los platos. → Lave los platos.

(Pasar) la aspiradora. → Pase la aspiradora.

(Poner) la mesa, por favor. → Ponga la mesa, por favor. (Remember to use the yo form as the starting point, not the normal stem.)

 

Ustedes commands

Ustedes commands are just like usted commands, except the endings are more like ellos/ellas/ustedes endings. Start with the present tense yo form, then add:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And examples:

hablar → hablen

beber → beban

compartir → compartan

(Estudiar) para el examen. → Estudien para el examen.

(Abrir) los textos, por favor. → Abran los textos, por favor.

No (bailar) en la casa. → No bailen en la casa.

 

Irregulars and CARGARZAR Verbs

If you are familiar with CARGARZAR verbs in the preterite, understanding them now will be a breeze. Basically, because the endings for usted/ustedes commands are -e and -en for -AR verbs, they can make some verbs sound a little funny. Verbs that end in -car and -gar change from hard consonant sounds (kuh and guh) to soft consonant sounds (suh and huh) when followed by an -e. -zar verbs are lumped in because Spanish has a thing about not putting z before e if it can be helped. So what this all boils down to is that usted/ustedes commands for CARGARZAR verbs have spelling changes very similar to what you see in the preterite in order to make them sound right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the irregulars. There are a few you should be aware of (usted command first, ustedes second):

ir → vaya, vayan

ser → sea, sean

estar → esté, estén

dar → dé, den (ustedes form is regular; however, do NOT forget the accent on the usted command)

 

Object pronouns

As with tú commands, object pronouns can be added to the affirmative—but not the negative—form of the usted/ustedes commands. An accent must also be added to maintain the original pronunciation.

Examples:

Démelo. (Give it to me.)

Dígame. (Tell me.)

Arréglalo. (Fix it.)