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¡Hola! Ready to learn how to give directions in Spanish? Today, we will master the informal, positive commands used with friends and family.
In Spanish, we use 'tú' (you) commands to give instructions to friends, classmates, or pets. These are called informal commands because we use them with people we know well.
To tell a friend to do something, we use the 'tú' command. For regular verbs, this is easy: just use the present tense 'él/ella' (he/she) form. For example, 'hablar' (to speak) becomes '¡habla!' (speak!).
Let us analyze how this works for different verb endings. For -ar verbs, the command ends in -a, like '¡toma!' (take!). For -er and -ir verbs, the command ends in -e, like '¡come!' (eat!) or '¡escribe!' (write!).
Imagine your friend Mateo is studying for a Spanish test, but he is getting distracted by his phone. You want to tell him in Spanish: 'Study the notes!' and 'Write the words!' Analyze how to translate these two commands step by step.
- First, analyze the verb 'to study' which is 'estudiar' (ehs-too-dee-AHR). This is a regular -ar verb.
- Next, to form the positive command for an -ar verb, change the ending to '-a'. This gives us '¡estudia!' (ehs-TOO-dee-ah).
- Now, translate 'the notes' which is 'las notas' (lahs NOH-tahs). Put them together: '¡Estudia las notas!'
- Next, analyze the verb 'to write' which is 'escribir' (ehs-cree-BEER). This is a regular -ir verb.
- To form the positive command for an -ir verb, change the ending to '-e'. This gives us '¡escribe!' (ehs-CREE-beh).
- Finally, translate 'the words' which is 'las palabras' (lahs pah-LAH-brahs). Put them together: '¡Escribe las palabras!'
