Estructuras

 
In Lección 4.3 we looked at formal commands - los mandatos formales - for when you are addressing someone you don’t know, or showing respect. There are separate commands for people that we are familiar with, friends, family, colleagues. These informal commands are los mandatos informales and we use tú and vosotros to make them.
 

Tú commands - afirmativos:

  For example, you want Gael to pay attention to the route.
  1. Start with the verb in the sentence: “to pay attention”, in Spanish: prestar atención.
  2. Use the él/ella/usted form of the verb prestar, presta. This gives us the command form for someone we know.
 
  To form an affirmative tú command:
3rd person singular verb (él/ella/usted) in present tense
 
Notice the difference in punctuation and intonation (how it is said) between the following two sentences. The verb doesn’t change, but the meaning does.
 
Gael presta atención a la ruta. Gael pays attention to the route.
Gael, presta atención a la ruta. Gael, pay attention to the route.
 
How would you tell the hiker to drink lots of water?
  1. Verb in the sentence: “to drink”, in Spanish: beber
  2. Él/ella/usted form: bebe
 
¡Bebe mucha agua!
 


Tú commands - irregulares afirmativos:

  There are eight (8) irregular tú commands forms which do not follow the pattern. Can you think of any you have seen?
ir ve decir di
venir ven salir sal
ser sé tener ten
poner pon hacer haz
 
Aquí hay unos ejemplos de mandatos con los verbos irregulares:
 
Ve a la escuela Di la verdad.
Ven aquí. Sal a las tres.
Sé amable. Ten cuidado.
Ponte la chaqueta. Haz la cama.
 
OJO: Ponte is the reflexive verb ponerse. Note that the reflexive pronoun goes at the end of an affirmative command. The pronoun is attached to the command.

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