Table 1 uses actual verbs to demonstrate the endings.

Pay close attention to stem changing verbs in all the different forms. The vosotros/vosotras
command forms that were explained earlier are so unusual that they're not included in the following charts. You can always use the ustedes
command form when you are speaking to a group of people. Since the ustedes form relays an attitude of respect and is easier to form, you can't go
wrong. It is important to review the explanation of vosotros command forms so that you can recognize what is being said if someone gives you a
command in this form, but keep things simple and use the ustedes command forms when you are speaking to a group.

TABLE 1 Regular, Stem-changing & Orthographic-changing Verbs in All Command Forms
Infinitive Usted affirmative Usted negative Ustedes affirmative Ustedes negative T affirmative T negative
Hablar (to talk) hable no hable hablen no hablen habla no hables
Comer (to eat) coma no coma coman no coman come no comas
Escribir (to write) escriba no escriba escriban no escriban escribe no escribas
Mentir (to lie) mienta no mienta mientan no mientan miente no mientas
Pedir (to order) pida no pida pidan no pidan pide no pidas
Jugar (to play) juegue no juegue jueguen no jueguen juega no juegues
Tocar (to touch) toque no toque toquen no toquen toca no toques
Almorzar (to eat lunch) almuerce no almuerce almuercen no almuercen almuerza no almuerces



Command Forms Using the Subjunctive
Affirmative and negative Ud. and Uds. commands and negative t and vosotros commands are created by using the appropriate present-tense
subjunctive conjugation form. To create these commands, remember the mantra: form of yo, drop the - o, add the opposite ending. The affirmative
t command forms of sample verbs are included in Table 1, so that you remember that, although the negative t command is simply the subjunctive
t form, the subjunctive is not used when a t command is affirmative.
TABLE 1 Sample Verbs in Command Forms
Infinitive
Neg. Ud.
Command
Affirm. Ud.
Command Neg. Uds. Command
Affirm. Uds.
Command
Neg. T
Command
Affirm. T
Command
trabajar (to work) no trabaje trabaje no trabajen trabajen no trabajes trabaja
vender (to sell) no venda venda no vendan vendan no vendas vende
vivir (to live) no viva viva no vivan vivan no vivas vive
perder (to lose) no pierda pierda no pierdan pierdan no pierdas pierde
repetir (to repeat) no repita repita no repitan repitan no repitas repite
rogar (to beg) no ruegue ruegue no rueguen rueguen no ruegues ruega
practicar (to practice) no practique practique no practiquen practiquen no practiques practica
comenzar (to begin) no comience comience no comiencen comiencen no comiences comienza


All the issues of the present subjunctive are reflected in the command forms. If a verb undergoes a stem change in the present tense, the command
form will undergo the same stem change. If a verb undergoes a spelling change in the present tense, the command form will undergo the same spelling
change. These kinds of verbs include those that end in - go or - zco.
Notice that the - go verbs all have irregular affirmative t command forms. A verb that ends in - go in the yo form will keep the g when you drop the -
o to form usted, ustedes, and the negative t command forms. In addition, the verbs that end in - go in the yo form generally have irregular
affirmative t command forms. Table 2 includes all of the command forms for the most common - go verbs.
TABLE 2 Command Forms of Common - go Verbs
Infinitive Yo form Usted affirmative Usted negative Ustedes affirmative Ustedes negative T affirmative T negative
decir (to say, tell) digo diga no diga digan no digan di no digas
hacer (to do, make) hago haga no haga hagan no hagan haz ho hagas
tener (to have) tengo tenga no tenga tengan no tengan ten no tengas
poner (to put) pongo ponga no ponga pongan no pongan pon no pongas
salir (to leave) salgo salga no salga salgan no salgan sal no salgas
venir (to come) vengo venga no venga vengan no vengan ven no vengas


Several verbs end in - zco in the yo form of the present tense. Verbs that end in a vowel + -cer are called - zco verbs in the present tense. Take a look
at Table 3 to see how the command forms are affected.

TABLE 3 Command Forms of Common - zco Verbs
Infinitive Yo form
Usted
affirmative Usted negative
Ustedes
affirmative Ustedes negative
T
affirmative T negative
conocer (to know a
person)
conozco conozca no conozca conozcan no conozcan conoce no conozcas
desaparecer (to
disappear)
desaparezco desaparezca no
desaparezca
desaparezcan no desaparezcan desparece no desaparezcas
obedecer (to obey) obedezco obedezca no obedezca obedezcan no obedezcan obedece no obedezcas
ofrecer (to offer) ofrezco ofrezca no ofrezca ofrezcan no ofrezcan ofrece no ofrezcas


Sometimes you have to change the spelling of a verb to maintain the correct pronunciation, as with verbs that end in - car, - gar, or - zar, because
when you conjugate verbs in the preterit tense, the yo form has an ending that requires you to change the spelling of any verb that ends in - car, -gar,
or - zar.
That same spelling change is necessary when you add the opposite endings to create a command form.
If a verb ends in - car, change c to qu in all command forms except the t affirmative. If a verb ends in - gar, change g to gu in all command forms
except the t affirmative. If a verb ends in - zar, change z to c in all command forms except the t affirmative.
A comprehensive list of the command forms of common verbs with spelling changes is provided below in Table 4. Some of these verbs are also stem
changers, so look carefully at every form.

TABLE 4 Command Forms of Common Verbs with Spelling Changes
Infinitive Yo form
Usted
affirmative
Usted
negative
Ustedes
affirmative
Ustedes
negative
T
affirmative T negative
cargar (to load) cargo cargue no cargue carguen no carguen carga no cargues
jugar (to play) juego juegue no juegue jueguen no jueguen juega no juegues
llegar (to arrive) llego llegue no llegue lleguen no lleguen llega no llegues
buscar (to search for) busco busque no busque busquen no busquen busca no busques
explicar (to explain) explico explique no explique expliquen no expliquen explica no expliques
sacar (to take [out]) saco saque no saque saquen no saquen saca no saques
tocar (to touch, to play [music]) toco toque no toque toquen no toquen toca no toques
abrazar (to hug) abrazo abrace no abrace abracen no abracen abraza no abraces
comenzar (to begin) comienzo comience no comience comiencen no comiencen comienza no comiences
realizar (to realize) realizo realice no realice realicen no realicen realiza no realices
indicar (to indicate) no indique indique no indiquen indiquen no indiques indica
entregar (to deliver, to hand
over)
no entregue entregue no entreguen entreguen no entregues entrega


If a verb has a really irregular yo form in the present tense, all of the command forms will also be completely irregular. Table 5 is a list of all the truly
irregular command forms.
TABLE 5 Truly Irregular Command Forms
Infinitive Yo form Usted affirmative Usted negative Ustedes affirmative Ustedes negative T affirmative T negative
dar (to give) doy d no d den no den da no des
estar (to be) estoy est no est estn no estn est no ests
ir (to go) voy vaya no vaya vayan no vayan ve no vayas
ser (to be) soy sea no sea sean no sean s no seas
saber (to know) s sepa no sepa sepan no sepan sabe no sepas


A verb that ends in a consonant + - cer or - cir has a yo form ending in - zo. The command forms for these types of verbs are demonstrated in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Command Forms of Common Verbs Ending in a Consonant Plus - cer or -cir
Infinitive Command Neg. Ud. Command Affirm. Ud.
Command
Neg. Uds.
Command
Affirm. Uds.
Command
Neg. T
Command
Affirm. T
Command
esparcir (to scatter) no esparza esparza no esparzan esparzan no esparzas esparce
vencer (to conquer) no venza venza no venzan venzan no venzas vence


A verb that ends in - gir reflects the present subjunctive - ja endings, as you can see in the examples in Table 8 .

TABLE 8 Command Forms of Common - gir and -ger Verbs
Infinitive Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud.
Command
Neg. Uds.
Command
Affirm. Uds.
Command
Neg. T
Command
Affirm. T
Command
corregir (to correct) no corrija corrija no corrijan corrijan no corrijas corrige
escoger (to choose) no escoja escoja no escojan escojan no escojas escoge
dirigir (to direct) no dirija dirija no dirijan dirijan no dirijas dirige
proteger (to protect) no proteja proteja no protejan protejan no protejas protege


Notice in Table 9 that verbs that end in - uir have a y in front of the command endings.

TABLE 9 Command Forms of Common - uir Verbs
Infinitive
Neg. Ud.
Command
Affirm. Ud.
Command
Neg. Uds.
Command
Affirm. Uds.
Command
Neg. T
Command
Affirm. T
Command
contribuir (to contribute) no contribuya contribuya no
contribuyan
contribuyan no contribuyas contribuye
destruir (to destroy) no destruya destruya no destruyan destruyan no destruyas destruye
huir (to run away, to flee) no huya huya no huyan huyan no huyas huye
incluir (to include) no incluya incluya no incluyan incluyan no incluyas incluye


The above rule does not apply to verbs that end in - guir (such as seguir), whose yo form ends in - go because the u in the infinitive is only present to
attain the hard g sound.
In Table 10 , you can see a stem change in all command forms of conseguir (to get). This verb is like seguir and all its prefix verbs. Notice that the u
from the infinitive disappears in all command forms except the affirmative t.

TABLE 10 Command Forms of Conseguir
Infinitive Neg. Ud. Command
Affirm. Ud.
Command
Neg. Uds.
Command
Affirm. Uds.
Command Neg. T Command Affirm. T Command
conseguir (to get) no consiga consiga no consigan consigan no consigas consigue