Transcript Tú commands - Gordon State College

Tú commands
Explanation
A command is an order: “Shut up,” “Sit
down,” “Bring me some chocolate,” etc.
What you’re learning here is how to tell a
friend (i.e., someone with whom you would
use “tú”) to shut up, sit down, and bring
you some chocolate.
AFFIRMATIVE Commands
 Here’s how you form affirmative tú commands:
 Conjugate the verb in the regular present tense:
hablar  hablas
comer  comes
volver  vuelves
 Now, take off the s:
habla
come
vuelve
 And there you have the tú affirmative command.
Exercise
Now change these verbs into commands. Write one on your paper,
click to check your answer, and then click to go on to the next one.

entender  ?




Answer: entiende
leer  ?

Answer: lee

Answer: trae
traer  ?
cerrar  ?

Answer: cierra
Irregular verbs
Did you really, really think it would be that simple?
Sorry. There are always irregular verbs. But you don’t
have many. And there aren’t a bunch of endings to learn
like there are with the preterite, because you’re dealing
with only one person—tú.
And heeeeeeerrrrrrreeeee they are:
decir  di
salir  sal
hacer  haz
poner  pon
venir  ven
ir  ve
ser  sé
tener  ten
These verbs are irregular
only in the affirmative! Not
in the negative!!!! You’re
about to be introduced to
the formation of negative
verbs, and they have their
OWN irregularities! You
absolutely cannot say, “No
sal ahora”! That’s wrong,
wrong, wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pronoun Position
Do you remember where you put object
pronouns with AFFIRMATIVE Ud.
commands? Well, that’s where you put
them with AFFIRMATIVE tú commands:
on the end of the command.
Cómelo.
Háblame.
Dime la verdad.
Exercise
Now change these verbs into commands. Write one on your
paper, click to check your answer, and then click to go on to the
next one.
ganarlo

Answer: gánalo
hablarme

Answer: háblame
creerla

Answer: créela
pedírmelo

Answer: pídemelo
Meaning
• Habla ahora. = “Talk now.”
• Come ahora. = “Eat now.”
• Vuelve ahora. = “Return now.”
• So if I tell you to write a sentence
using a command, you can’t write, for
example, “Come ayer.” Duh. That
would mean, “Eat yesterday.”
NEGATIVE Commands



The BAD news: Negative tú commands are totally
different from affirmative. Sorry. Nobody asked
me what I thought about doing it this way.
The GOOD news: Remember Ud. commands?
Well, negative tú commands are EXACTLY like
Ud. commands, except that they have an s on
them.
More bad news: If you didn’t learn the Ud.
commands when you were supposed to, guess
what.
Sooo . . .
Go to the first person singular of a verb



And drop the o



Traer  no traigo
Pensar  no pienso
Traigo  no traig_
Pensar  no piens_
And then add the opposite ending (-as for –er and
–ir verbs, -es for –ar verbs)


Traig_  NO traigas
Piens_  NO pienses
DON’T FORGET THE S!
Exercise
Now change these verbs into commands. Write
one on your paper, click to check your answer,
and then click to go on to the next one.
NO traer
Answer: no traigas
NO pensar
Answer: no pienses
NO salir
Answer: no salgas
NO dormir
Answer: no duermas
Can you guess which verbs will be
irregular when they’re negative?
Remember that they’re NOT the same
verbs that are irregular in the present.
Take a second and think about it. If you
really think about how you’re forming the
negative command, the five (hint) irregular
verbs will make sense to you.
Irregular negative tú commands

The five irregular commands are the
following:





ser
saber
ir
estar
dar





no
no
no
no
no
seas
sepas
vayas
estés
des
Do they look familiar? These are the
five irregular Ud. commands. The
ONLY difference between Ud. commands
and negative tú commands is that the
negative tú commands have an s.
Pronoun Position
One last step: remember
that, just like you did with
Ud. commands, you have to
put the object pronoun
BEFORE a negative
command.
No lo hagas.
No me ayudes.
Exercise
Now change these verbs into commands. Write one on your paper, click to
check your answer, and then click to go on to the next one.


Answer: no lo traigas





NO traerlo
NO perderlas
Answer: no las pierdas

NO cerrarlo

NO ponerlos

NO leérmelo
Answer: No lo cierres
Answer: No los pongas
Answer: no me lo leas
OK, here it all is in a nutshell:
1. Affirmative commands:
A. Conjugate the verb as a regular present tense verb and take off the s.
comes  come
hablas  habla
B. Learn the eight irregular verbs:
decir  di
salir  sal
hacer  haz
poner  pon
venir  ven
ir  ve
ser  sé
tener  ten
C. Put pronouns on the end of affirmative commands:
Cómelo.
Hazlo.
2. Negative commands:
A. Drop the o off the first person singular and add the opposite ending,
including an s:
digo  no digas
cierro  no cierres
B. Memorize the five irregular negative commands:
ser
saber
ir
estar
dar





no seas
no sepas
no vayas
no estés
no des
C. Put pronouns in front of negative commands:
No lo digas. No me lo des.
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