Irregular Tú Commands
Affirmative Tú CommandsAffirmative Tú CommandsYou already know how to give affirmative commands to someone you address as tú:
You take the 3rd person form of the verb. Comer = ¡come!
Negative Tú CommandsNegative Tú CommandsYou remember that in order to give a negative command, we have 3 steps.
1. Put the verb in the ‘yo’ form2. Change the ‘o’ ending to -as for –er and –ir verbs-es for –ar verbs 3. Put ‘no’ in front of the verb.
Negative Tú CommandsNegative Tú CommandsExamples:
Hablar Comer Escribir1.Hablo Como Escribo2.Hables Comas Escribas3.No hables No comas No escribas
Irregular Tú CommandsIrregular Tú CommandsIn Spanish, some verbs have irregular commands.
We will begin with verbs that are regular in the positive form, but become irregular when made negative.
Irregular Tú CommandsIrregular Tú CommandsVerbs that end with –car, -gar, zar - car - gar -zarpracticar jugar empezartocar pagar comenzarbuscarsacar
The negative command form of these verbs is irregular.
For verbs ending in –CARFor verbs ending in –CAR
In the negative form, these verbs will end with –QUES
The ‘c’ changes to ‘que’ to maintain the ‘k’ sound.
Example: !No toques!
For verbs ending in -GARFor verbs ending in -GAR
In the negative form, these verbs will end in –GUES
It is spelled with ‘gu’ instead of ‘g’ to keep the hard ‘g’ sound.
Example: ¡No juegues!
For verbs ending in -ZARFor verbs ending in -ZAR
In the negative form, these verbs will end with –CES
The ‘z’ changes to ‘c’ to give a harder sound.
Eample: !No empieces!
More Irregular CommandsMore Irregular Commands
There are some verbs that are irregular
in the positive form, the negative form,
or both. For the following verbs, you will
have to memorize the commands.
Irregular Tú CommandsIrregular Tú CommandsVerb Definition Positive Negative
Venir to come Ven No vengas
Decir to say; to tell Di No digas
Salir to leave Sal No salgas
Hacer to do; to make Haz No hagas
Tener to have Ten No tengas
Ir to go Ve No vayas
Poner to put; to place Pon No pongas
Ser to be Sé No seas
A Way to Remember A Way to Remember CommandsCommands
Ven Di Sal Haz Ten Ve Pon Sé
Helpful HintHelpful Hint
If you take a look at the list of irregular verbs, you will notice that a number of them are ‘yo-go’ verbs. These are verbs that in the present tense, yo form, end in –go.
venir = vengovenir = vengo tener = tengo tener = tengo decir = digodecir = digo poner = pongoponer = pongosalir = salgo salir = salgo
Helpful HintsHelpful Hints For all the yo-go verbs (except hacer)
you will notice that the positive command form is the yo form, minus the –go.
Venir = vengo = venDecir = digo = diSalir = salgo = salTener = tengo = tenPoner = pongo = pon
Negative Form of yo-go VerbsNegative Form of yo-go Verbs The yo-go verbs form the negative
command the same way a regular verb is formed. Remember, first conjugate the verb in the yo form!
Example: Example: hacerhacer 1. hago1. hago hagashagas No hagasNo hagas
Verbs to Keep an Eye on!Verbs to Keep an Eye on!
Both ser and ir are irregular in the positive and negative command forms.
SerSer = = sésé (for a positive command) (for a positive command)SerSer = = no seas no seas (for a negative command)(for a negative command)
Ir Ir = = veve (for a positive command) (for a positive command)IrIr = = no vayas no vayas (for a negative command)(for a negative command)
