“Los Mandatos”
Commands
Por: Martha Abeille
Profesora de Español
Tuesday, November 5, 13
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Meaning
Types of “Mandatos” (Commands)
“Mandatos” with Irregular
verbs
“Mandatos” and
Direct and Indirect Objects
Exercise
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Tuesday, November 5, 13
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Meaning
The word “mandato” means “command” in English
This grammar structure is called
“Los Mandatos” or “La Forma Imperativa” en Español.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
Types of “Mandatos” (Commands)
The commands in Spanish can be:
1. Informal: commands given to a friend (tú).
2. Formal: commands given to an adult to show
respect (usted).
3. Group: commands given to a group of
people (ustedes and nosotros).
They can be affirmative and negative.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
Types of “Mandatos” (Commands)
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boxes
The commands in Spanish can be:
1. Informal: commands given to a friend (tú).
2. Formal: commands given to an adult to show
respect (usted).
3. Group: commands given to a group of
people (ustedes and nosotros).
They can be affirmative and negative.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
Affirmative Informal
commands (tú)
To create affirmative informal
commands, drop the –s ending
of the tú form of the verb.
Ejm.
(tú) hablas
(tú) comes
(tú) describes
¡Habla!
¡Come!
¡Describe!
Negative Informal
commands
You can make a Mandato informal (tú)
Negativo using no before the verb and
changing the opposite vowel in the last
syllable and adding -s at the end of the
last syllable.
-ar verbs e
Affirmative
Negative
¡Habla!
¡No hables!
-er and -ir verbs a
Note: We use the same form as the
Ud./él/ella form in present tense.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
¡Come!
¡Describe!
¡No comas!
¡No describas!
Affirmative Informal
commands (tú)
To create affirmative informal
commands, drop the –s ending
of the tú form of the verb.
Ejm.
(tú) hablas
(tú) comes
(tú) describes
¡Habla!
¡Come!
¡Describe!
Negative Informal
commands
You can make a Mandato informal (tú)
Negativo using no before the verb and
changing the opposite vowel in the last
syllable and adding -s at the end of the
last syllable.
-ar verbs e
Affirmative
Negative
¡Habla!
¡No hables!
-er and -ir verbs a
Note: We use the same form as the
Ud./él/ella form in present tense.
¡Come!
¡Describe!
¡No comas!
¡No describas!
Important: the pronouns tú and usted are not used in the command
form. Usted and tú are implied.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
Affirmative Formal
commands (usted)
Negative Formal
Commands (usted)
You can write formal affirmative
commands by changing the
opposite vowel in the last syllable.
You can make a Mandato formal (usted)
Negative using no before the verb.
It Is not necessary to change the opposite
vowel in the last syllable neither to add
-s at the end of the last syllable.
Example:
Example:
(ud.) hablar
(ud.) comer
(ud.) describir
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Tuesday, November 5, 13
¡Hable!
¡Coma!
¡Describa!
Affirmative
Negative
¡Hable!
¡No hable!
¡Coma!
¡Describa!
¡No coma!
¡No describa!
Affirmative Formal
commands (usted)
Negative Formal
Commands (usted)
You can write formal affirmative
commands by changing the
opposite vowel in the last syllable.
You can make a Mandato formal (usted)
Negative using no before the verb.
It Is not necessary to change the opposite
vowel in the last syllable neither to add
-s at the end of the last syllable.
Example:
Example:
(ud.) hablar
(ud.) comer
(ud.) describir
¡Hable!
¡Coma!
¡Describa!
Affirmative
Negative
¡Hable!
¡No hable!
¡Coma!
¡Describa!
¡No coma!
¡No describa!
Important: the pronouns tú and usted are not used in the command
form. Usted and tú are implied.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
Affirmative
commands (ustedes)
You can write formal affirmative
command by changing the
opposite vowel in the last syllable.
Ejm.
(ustedes)
(ustedes)
(ustedes)
hablan ¡Hablen!
comen ¡Coman!
describen ¡Describan!
.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
Affirmative
commands (nosotros)
You can write affirmative (nosotros)
command by changing the
opposite vowel in the last syllable.
Ejm.
(nosotros)
(nosotros)
(nosotros)
hablamos
comemos
describimos
¡Hablemos!
¡Comamos!
¡Describamos!
Affirmative
commands (ustedes)
You can write formal affirmative
command by changing the
opposite vowel in the last syllable.
Ejm.
(ustedes)
(ustedes)
(ustedes)
hablan ¡Hablen!
comen ¡Coman!
describen ¡Describan!
Affirmative
commands (nosotros)
You can write affirmative (nosotros)
command by changing the
opposite vowel in the last syllable.
Ejm.
(nosotros)
(nosotros)
(nosotros)
hablamos
comemos
describimos
.
Important: the pronouns ustedes and nosotros are not used in the
command form. Ustedes and nosotros are implied.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13
¡Hablemos!
¡Comamos!
¡Describamos!
“Mandatos” with Irregular
verbs
Some verbs have irregular informal affirmative commands. These are the actual commands.
There is no ending to add or conjugation to perform, but you have to memorize them.
irregular
tú
verbs
tener (to have)
ten
hacer (to do)
usted
ustedes
nosotros
tenga
tengan
tengamos
haz - No hagas
haga
hagan
hagamos
poner (to put)
pon - No hagas
ponga
pongan
pongamos
ser (to be)
sé
séa
séan
séamos
decir (to say)
di - No digas
diga
digan
digamos
ir (to go)
ve - No veas
vaya
vayan
vayamos
venir (to come)
ven - No vengas
venga
vengan
vengamos
salir (to leave)
sal - No salgas
salga
salgan
salgamos
© mabeille
- No tengas
- No séas
These are just some examples of commands with irregular verbs
Tuesday, November 5, 13
“Mandatos” with
Direct and Indirect Objects
When using an affirmative tú command with a direct or indirect object pronoun, attach
the pronoun to the verb. If the command form has more than two syllables, we must
add an accent mark to show that the stress remains in the same place.
Direct Object Pronouns
Indirect Object Pronouns
yo - me
nosotros – nos
yo - me
nosotros – nos
tú - te
ellos/ellas/ustedes -los/las
tú - te
ellos/ellas/ustedes - les
Él/ella/ud. - lo, la
Examples:
Dime la verdad.
Digame la verdad
Él/ella/ud. - le
(tú informal)
(usted formal)
Explícale a tu maestro porque llegas tarde todos los días.
Explíquele a su maestro porque llega tarde todos los días.
Danos los libros.
Denos los libros.
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Tuesday, November 5, 13
(tú informal)
(usted formal)
(tú informal)
(usted formal)
Mandato with simple pronoun
If a single pronoun is used with an affirmative command, attach it to the end of the
command.
Haz la tarea.
Hazla
(tú)
(Do the homework)
(Do it)
Pon los libros en el pupitre. (tú)
Ponlos en el pupitre.
(Put the books on the desk)
(Put them on the desk)
Abra la puerta.
Abrala
(Open the door)
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Tuesday, November 5, 13
(ud.)
(Open it.)
Exercises
1. Rent the house. (tú)
Rentas la casa.
Renta la casa.
2. Pass the rulers. (usted)
Pasa las reglas.
Pase las reglas.
3. Raise your hand. (ustedes)
Levanten su mano.
Levanta tu mano.
4. Eat healthy food. (tú)
Come alimentos sanos.
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Tuesday, November 5, 13
Coman alimentos sanos.
More exercises
5. Don’t write the essay now. (tú)
No escriben el ensayo ahora.
No escribas el ensayo ahora.
6. Let’s watch the movie. (nosotros)
Ven la película
Veamos la película.
7. Pay attention. (tú)
Ponemos atención.
Pon atención.
© mabeille
Tuesday, November 5, 13