Formal Commands! - ¡Sí señor!-

Commands in English… … are pretty easy. You just use a base verb form (without a subject, since it’s always “you”) to tell people what they SHOULD do: Stand up! Sit down! Do your homework! Take out the garbage! Be quiet!

Commands in English… … and what they should not do: Don’t write in your books! Don’t speak English in Spanish class! Don’t be silly!

Commands in Spanish… … are little more complicated because we have so many ways of saying “you”: Tú: informal, singular Vosotros: informal, plural Usted: formal, singular Ustedes: formal, plural However, we will concentrate on the formal commands only. – Usted & Ustedes

Let’s look at a few examples! What do you notice? Hable despacio, por favor. ¡Repita, por favor.! Siéntese Usted aquí. Entreguen Ustedes la tarea. Hagan el ejercicio B. No hagan el ejercicio A. ¡No se levante Usted! ¡No corran en la clase!

Hable despacio, por favor. The speaker is talking to one person. Can you figure out how we got the form “hable”? 1) Take the “yo” form of the present: HABLO 2) Drop the –o: HABL- 3) “Hablar” is an –AR verb, so add –E to form the command: HABLE Translation: Talk!, Talk slower, please.

Repita, por favor. The speaker is talking to one person. Can you figure out how we got the form “repita”? 1) Take the “yo” form of the present: REPITO 2) Drop the –o: REPIT- 3) “Repetir” is an –IR/-ER verb, so add –A to form the command: REPITA Translation: Repeat!, Repeat, please.

Let’s reiterate: Opposite endings Think of the verb adding the “opposite ending”: AR verbs add an –E. ER & IR verbs add an –A.

Let’s try a couple! Comer: ¡Eat! Escribir: ¡Write! Tomar: ¡Take! ¡Coma! Escribir: ¡Write! ¡Escriba! Tomar: ¡Take! ¡Tome!

For Ustedes… Hagan Ustedes la tarea. Right! Just add an -N to the command form when you are talking to more than one person.

Let’s try a couple more! Comer: ¡Eat! Escribir: ¡Write! Tomar: ¡Take! ¡Coman! Escribir: ¡Write! ¡Escriban! Tomar: ¡Take! ¡Tomen!

¡No! = DON’T! (add this to your notes) How do we make negative commands in Spanish? ¡No fume! ¡No tome café! ¡No coma tanto! Right – simply put the word NO in front of the command form.

Yo –go & Stem Changing Verbs Haga la tarea. = Do your Homework! HACER 1) (Put it in the YO form) HAGO 2) (Drop the –o) HAG___ 3) (Add the opposite ending) HAGA la tarea. Vuelva a casa. = Return home! VOLVER 1) (Put it in the YO form) VUELVO 2) (Drop the –o) VUELV___ 3) (Add the opposite ending) VUELVA a casa. These verbs follow the same formula: start with the yo form, drop the –o, and add the opposite ending.

Very IrReGuLaR Formal Commands These five verbs are very irregular for a good reason: They have YO forms that do NOT end in “o” Ser > sea(n) Estar > esté(n) Dar > dé(n) Saber > sepa(n) Ir > vaya(n) (The present tense yo form does not end in an –o, so there is no –o to drop when forming the command form.)

Some irregulars Which irregular verb is being used in the command? Haga la tarea. Tenga paciencia. Salga ahora. Vuelva a casa. Piense bien. ¡Sea respetuso! ¡Esté tranquila!

-CAR, GAR, ZAR verbs CAR  -que(n) GAR  -gue(n) ZAR  -ce(n) These are Orthographic Verbs – meaning there is a spelling change to maintain the original sound of the verb. CAR  -que(n) Buscar  busco  bus__  busque(n) GAR  -gue(n) llegar llego  lleg__  llegue(n) ZAR  -ce(n) empezar empiezo  empie__  empiece(n)

Commands on the road Go...! Turn... Continue... Stop... What are some others?

En español... Regresar = to return Llegar = to arrive Empezar = to start/begin Ir = to go Subir = to go up Bajar = to go down Doblar/Girar = to turn Seguir = to continue Entrar = to enter Parar = to stop Pasar = to pass Manejar = to drive Tomar = to take

¿Cómo se dice? (USTED) Stop. Don’t turn left. Pass the gas station. Take the highway. Don’t arrive late. Follow the signs. Start here. Pare. No doble a la izquierda. Pase la gasolinera. Tome la carretera. No llegue tarde. Siga las señales. Empiece aquí.

Tur de Columbus Underline the commands. Follow the directions, writing down your destinations.(1-10) #11 – You must write the instructions!

¿Cómo se dice? (USTED) Fry the fish. Don’t mix the salad too much. Don’t bake the eggs. Boil them. Don’t slice the carrots. Mince them. Fría el pescado. No revuelva la ensalada demasiado. No hornee los huevos. Hiérvalos. No corte en rebanadas las zanahorias. Piqúelas.

Commands in the kitchen Cut...! Chop... Continue... Boil... What are some others?

IT versus THEM IT = lo / la THEM = los / las Attach to the AFFIRMATIVE conjugation! Sírvala caliente. = (Sirve it hot.) Place in front of NEGATIVE conjugation! No la sirva frío. = (Don’t serve it cold.)

¡Levántese! What about reflexive verbs? ¡Levántese! / ¡Siéntese! In affirmative commands, pronouns are attached to the end of the conjugated verb. ¡Levántese! ¡Levántense!

¡Levántese! What about reflexive verbs? ¡Levántese! / ¡Siéntese! In affirmative commands, pronouns are attached to the end of the conjugated verb. ¡Levántese! ¡Levántense!

¡No se levante! What about reflexive verbs? ¡No se levante! ¡No se siénte! In negative commands, all pronouns precede the conjugated verb. No se levante. No se levanten. No se siente. No se sienten.

¡Terminemos por ahora! That’s all for now, but learn this concept well – the command form will be very important when we learn about our next verb tense – the subjunctive.