The affirmative imperative (el imperativo afirmativo) is used to give direct commands, orders, or instructions to do something.
When to use it
Giving direct orders
¡Cierra la puerta!
Close the door!
Making suggestions
Prueba este plato.
Try this dish.
Giving instructions or directions
Gira a la derecha.
Turn right.
Regular endings
| -ar | -er | -ir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | — | — | — |
| tú | -a | -e | -e |
| él | -e | -a | -a |
| nos. | -emos | -amos | -amos |
| vos. | -ad | -ed | -id |
| ellos | -en | -an | -an |
Irregular verbs
Completely Irregular
Irregular Stem: e → ie
Irregular Stem: e → ie & Spelling Change: z → c
Irregular Stem: e → ie / i
Irregular Stem: e → i
Irregular Stem: o → ue
Irregular Stem: o → ue / u
Irregular Stem: u → ue & Spelling Change: g → gu
Irregular Stem (from Present 'yo'): ‑g‑ & Irregular Form (tú)
Irregular Stem (from Present 'yo'): ‑g‑
Spelling Change: vowel → y
Irregular Stem (from Present 'yo'): ‑j‑
Irregular Stem (from Present 'yo'): ‑zc‑
Irregular Form
Spelling Change: c → qu
Spelling Change: g → gu
Spelling Change: z → c
Frequently asked
The affirmative imperative (el imperativo afirmativo) is used to give direct commands, orders, or instructions to do something. The main cases are giving direct orders, making suggestions and giving instructions or directions. For example: ¡Cierra la puerta! — Close the door!.
Regular verbs take: -ar: tú -a, él -e, nos. -emos, vos. -ad, ellos -en; -er: tú -e, él -a, nos. -amos, vos. -ed, ellos -an; -ir: tú -e, él -a, nos. -amos, vos. -id, ellos -an.
The most common ones are ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder, decir, haber and ir. Each has its own conjugation table with the full set of forms.
The imperativo afirmativo sits at A2 — Elementary, and Verboteca practice is free at A1. The rule, the tables and the examples on this page stay readable without a subscription or an account.
Every verb form becomes a card that comes back right before you would forget it.
