Command Verbs in Spanish: One of the First Things You'll Need

Saturday, 24 January 2009 13:34

Share this
Export PDF
Print
E-mail

As I watch my toddler son Bubby go about learning English, it gives me a chance to think a lot about how we learn a language. I think in the end it will make me a much better Spanish teacher! Recently he has acquired a relatively new skill: using verbs.

He only uses a handful of them – words like GO, COME, SEE, EAT, SIT, etc.

But what’s interesting to me about this, is that often he uses these as commands, which aren’t usually taught until you’ve already learned the basic verb conjugations for present tense. That’s a bit backwards. When you get off the plane in Latinolandia or someplace else that speaks Spanish, the 2 things you are going to need are some basic vocabulary and a list of at least 10 verbs you can use to tell people what you want and need. Travelers should make a cheat sheet of Spanish commands and tack that on to your other language notes.

Here’s a quick lesson from my online tutorial:

Spanish Informal Commands

Commands - telling somebody to DO something!

Commands are when you are telling (not asking!) somebody to DO something. Here are patterns for someone you would call “tú.” Commands are important because if you go to a Spanish speaking country, they are one of the first things you will listen to!

patterns for spanish informal commands

Click to listen to an mp3

Practice saying the following commands in their affirmative and negative forms. Do you spot the patterns? What would be the negative command for the verb bailar found in the mp3?

llamar call
llama!
no llames

tomar take
toma!
no tomes

comer eat
come!
no comas

ver see
ve!
no veas

dormir sleep
duerme!
no duermas

escribir write
escribe!
no escribas

Worksheet/Activity: Spanish Commands

Quiz: Affirmative Commands