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Grammar Summary

Spanish-2 Unidad 3 Etapa 1

Giving Formal Commands to Usted/Ustedes

Remember how to give an affirmative tú command?  You take the present tense tú form and drop the "s."  (Remember that there are also a few irregular verbs that don't follow this pattern.)  For a review, go to Spanish-1 Unidad 4 Etapa 1.  Then use your browser's back arrow to return to this page.

To make a negative tú command, you start with the present tense yo form, drop the "o" and then add the appropriate ending (for tú it would be an "s").  For a review of this, go to Spanish-1 Unidad 5 Etapa 1.  Then use your browser's back arrow to return to this page.

To give commands to Usted or Ustedes, you use the same system as for giving negative tú commands, dropping the "o" from the present tense yo form and adding an ending that has the opposite vowel.  The only difference is the ending, as in this example with the verb hablar:

Or with tener:

Verbs that end in -car, -gar and -zar will have a spelling change to preserve prounciation: buscar (Ud.) ¡Busque! / pagar (Ud.) ¡Pague!  /  empezar (Ud.) ¡Empiece!

Some common verbs have an irregular usted command form: