Spanish Commands (Imperative) Practice

Q: How do you form commands in Spanish?

Most command forms come from the present subjunctive: usted (hable), ustedes (hablen), negative tú (no hables) and nosotros (hablemos). The one exception is the affirmative tú, which equals the él/ella present tense: habla, come, abre.

Q: What are the irregular tú commands?

Eight affirmative tú commands are irregular: di (decir), haz (hacer), ve (ir), pon (poner), sal (salir), sé (ser), ten (tener) and ven (venir). Their negative forms, however, are regular subjunctives: no digas, no hagas, no vayas, and so on.

Q: Where do pronouns go with commands?

With affirmative commands, object and reflexive pronouns attach to the end of the verb and often need a written accent: dímelo, siéntate, levántense. With negative commands, the pronouns go before the verb: no me lo digas, no te sientes.

Q: What's the difference between affirmative and negative tú commands?

They look different. The affirmative tú is the present él/ella form (habla, come), while the negative tú is the subjunctive (no hables, no comas). This is the most common command mistake learners make.

Q: How do you say 'let's...' in Spanish?

Use the nosotros command, which is the subjunctive nosotros form: hablemos (let's talk), comamos (let's eat), vamos (let's go). For 'let's go' specifically, vamos is used affirmatively and no vayamos negatively.

Q: Are these command exercises free?

Yes. All 24 exercises run in your browser, need no signup, and explain every answer.

Question 1

___ más despacio, por favor. (hablar — tú)

Accepted Answer

Habla. The affirmative tú command equals the él/ella present-tense form: habla. (One of the few command forms not taken from the subjunctive.)

Question 2

___ la verdura, es buena para ti. (comer — tú)

Accepted Answer

Come. Affirmative tú = present él/ella form: come.

Question 3

___ la tarea antes de salir. (hacer — tú)

Accepted Answer

Haz. Hacer has an irregular affirmative tú command: haz. (The eight irregulars: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven.)

Question 4

___ aquí, hay sitio a mi lado. (venir — tú)

Accepted Answer

Ven. Venir has the irregular affirmative tú command ven.

Question 5

___ cuidado al cruzar la calle. (tener — tú)

Accepted Answer

Ten. Tener has the irregular affirmative tú command ten. Tener cuidado = to be careful.

Question 6

No ___ tan rápido, no te entiendo. (hablar — tú)

Accepted Answer

hables. Negative tú commands use the present-subjunctive tú form: no hables. This is different from the affirmative (habla).

Question 7

No ___ eso, no es verdad. (decir — tú)

Accepted Answer

digas. Negative tú of decir uses the subjunctive stem: no digas. (Note the affirmative is the irregular di.)

Question 8

___ por aquí, señora. (pasar — usted)

Accepted Answer

Pase. Usted commands (affirmative and negative) use the present-subjunctive usted form: pase.

Question 9

___ el formulario con bolígrafo azul. (rellenar — usted)

Accepted Answer

Rellene. Usted command = subjunctive usted form: rellene.

Question 10

___ silencio, por favor. (guardar — ustedes)

Accepted Answer

Guarden. Ustedes commands use the subjunctive ustedes form: guarden. (In Latin America this also covers informal plural 'you all'.)

Question 11

___ al médico si te sigue doliendo. (ir — tú)

Accepted Answer

Ve. Ir has the irregular affirmative tú command ve. (Don't confuse it with ve from ver — context decides.)

Question 12

No ___ por esa calle, es peligrosa. (ir — tú)

Accepted Answer

vayas. Negative tú of ir uses the subjunctive: no vayas. Ir is irregular in the subjunctive (vaya stem).

Question 13

El informe es urgente. ___ ahora mismo. (hacerlo — tú)

Accepted Answer

Hazlo. With affirmative commands the pronoun attaches to the end: haz + lo → hazlo. (A short command like haz needs no extra accent here.)

Question 14

Es un secreto. No ___ a nadie. (decirlo — tú)

Accepted Answer

lo digas. With negative commands the pronoun goes before the verb: no lo digas. (Affirmative would be dilo.)

Question 15

Estás cansado. ___ un rato. (sentarse — tú)

Accepted Answer

Siéntate. Reflexive pronoun attaches to an affirmative command: siénta + te → siéntate. Adding the pronoun requires a written accent to keep the stress (sién-ta-te).

Question 16

Es temprano. No ___ todavía. (levantarse — tú)

Accepted Answer

te levantes. With a negative command the reflexive pronoun goes before the verb: no te levantes.

Question 17

Tengo hambre. ___ algo. (comer — nosotros)

Accepted Answer

Comamos. The nosotros command (let's...) uses the subjunctive nosotros form: comamos. (You can also say vamos a comer.)

Question 18

___ la música, está muy alta. (poner — tú) — más bajo

Accepted Answer

Pon. Poner has the irregular affirmative tú command pon.

Question 19

___ bueno y ayuda a tu hermano. (ser — tú)

Accepted Answer

Sé. Ser has the irregular affirmative tú command sé (with an accent).

Question 20

No se ___, el médico llega enseguida. (preocuparse — usted)

Accepted Answer

preocupe. Negative usted command = subjunctive usted form: no se preocupe. The pronoun se goes before the verb in a negative command.

Question 21

Which is the correct affirmative tú command of salir (leave)?

Accepted Answer

sal. Salir is one of the eight irregular affirmative tú commands: sal.

Question 22

Which command is wrong?

Accepted Answer

No haz eso.. Negative commands always use the subjunctive: no hagas, not no haz. (Haz is only for the affirmative.)

Question 23

Choose the correct way to say 'Give it to me' (dar + it + me, tú).

Accepted Answer

Dámelo.. In an affirmative command both object pronouns attach to the verb in the order indirect-direct: da + me + lo → dámelo, with an accent to keep the original stress.

Question 24

Which sentence has a command error?

Accepted Answer

No comes tanto.. A negative tú command needs the subjunctive: no comas, not no comes (which is just the present tense / a statement).

Spanish Commands (Imperative) Practice

The rule, in plain English.

Practice.

Other topics.

Subjunctive Practice

Reflexive Verbs Practice

Present Tense Practice

Also planned in this category.

Common questions.