Apuntes - 13 de noviembre Los mandatos (commands)

1. Apuntes - 13 de noviembreLos mandatos(commands) To boss another person around in Spanish, you have to use unmandato (a command). Los mandatos(commands) have a different conjugation than the other tenses to set them apart and let the listener know that they are being commanded to do something.

2. Non-command statements that you already know: Regular present tense statement: Susana, túhablas mucho. Susana, you talk a lot. Regular preterite tense statement: Susana, tú hablaste mucho ayer. Susana, you talked a lot yesterday.

3. Example of un mandato: Susana, ¡habla ahora! Susana, talk/speak now! What is the difference between ‘hablas’ and ‘habla’ in this context? ‘Hablas’ is simply a present tense statement: You talk ‘Habla’ is a command: Talk! Speak!

4. ‘Habla’ should look familiar—where have you seen habla before? Habla is the él, ella, Ud. form of ‘hablar’ in the present tense: Ella habla. She talks. Élhabla. He talks. Ud. habla. You (f) talk.

5. To form an affirmative tú command: ..take the él, ella, Ud. present tense form to create a tú command: • nadar nada: Swim! (command form) • comer come: Eat! (command form) • escribir  escribe: Write! (command form)

6. To form a negative tú command for –ar verbs: • Think of the ‘yo’ form in the present tense first: Yo hablo. I talk. For –ar verbs, drop the –o and add ‘-es’ and put a ‘no’ in front of the verb: No hables. Don’t talk. No nades. Don’t swim.

7. To form a negative tú command for –er and -ir verbs: • Think of the ‘yo’ form in the present tense first: • Yo como. I eat. (From comer) • Yo escribo. I write. (From escribir) For –er and –ir verbs, drop the –o and add ‘-as’ and put a ‘no’ in front of the verb: No comas. Don’t eat. No escribas. Don’t write.

8. Algunos mandatos irregulares:Some irregular commands: • decir: di/no digas • dar: da/no des • hacer: haz/no hagas • ir: ve/no vayas • poner: pon/no pongas • salir: sal/no salgas • tocar: toca/no toques