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Grammar OHT 17
Copyright © McDougal Littell Inc. All rights reserved.
Give Formal Commands Using usted/ustedes
GRAMÁTICA
For regular affirmative tú commands, you know that you use the third
person singular form of the verb in the present tense. But what do you
use for usted commands?
• For -ar verbs, take the yo form
• For -er and -ir verbs, take the
of the verb and change the
ending to -e .
yo form of the verb and change
the ending to -a .
becomes
sient o
becomes
sient e
com o
No sient e al niño delante
de la televisión.
com a
Com a comidas nutritivas.
Eat nutritious foods.
Don´t sit the child in front of the television.
For ustedes commands, use plural endings.
becomes
habl o
becomes
escrib o
habl en
escrib an
Habl en español, por favor.
Escrib an las respuestas.
Speak Spanish, please.
Write the answers.
Some common verbs have irregular usted commands:
dar
estar
ir
saber
ser
usted
dé
esté
vaya
sepa
sea
ustedes
den
estén
vayan
sepan
sean
Elena dice:
—Por favor, vayan a hacer
ejercicio hoy, no mañana.
Please, go exercise today, not tomorrow.
Verbs ending in
-car, -gar, and -zar
have a spelling change to
preserve pronunciation:
empezar→empiece