Imperative - Complete Guide for Spanish Speakers

🎯 Why This Matters

To give instructions and make requests politely.

Learning Outcome

Clear, polite commands and requests.

🇪🇸 The Challenge

Softening imperatives. Direct imperatives can sound rude in English. Spanish speakers may not use enough softeners (please, would you, could you).

🇲🇽🇨🇴🇦🇷 Direct commands

Problem: Spanish imperatives can be neutral in tone

Watch out: Saying 'Give me the salt' sounds rude in English without 'please'

✅ Fix: Always add 'please' or use 'could you' for requests

🧠 Mental Note: When in doubt, add 'please'. It never hurts!

❌ 'Give me the salt' → ✅ 'Pass me the salt, please' or 'Could you pass the salt?'

🇪🇸 Tú vs Usted commands

Problem: Spain distinguishes formal/informal commands

Advantage: English imperatives don't change - same form for everyone

Watch out: But English relies on tone and 'please' for politeness instead

✅ Fix: No verb change needed, but add softeners for politeness

Both 'Siéntate' and 'Siéntese' → 'Sit down' or 'Please sit down'

🧠 Visual Explanation (The Mental Fix)

The Politeness Scale

Imperatives have a POLITENESS scale: 😤 Very direct (use carefully): 'Sit down!' / 'Stop!' 😐 Neutral (add PLEASE): 'Please sit down.' / 'Sit down, please.' 😊 Polite (add COULD/WOULD): 'Could you sit down?' / 'Would you please...?' Formation: Just use the BASE VERB - Go! / Don't go! - Be careful! / Don't be late! Negative: DON'T + base verb - Don't touch! / Don't forget!

The more words you add (please, could you, would you mind), the more polite you sound.

🗣️ Pronunciation Guide

How Spanish speakers should pronounce this structure:

Don't pronunciation

Spanish Habit: Pronouncing 'don't' as two syllables

English Reality: 'Don't' is one syllable: /doʊnt/

Examples:

don't → /doʊnt/
Don't do it → /doʊnt ˈduː ɪt/
Don't worry → /doʊnt ˈwʌri/

Practice: Say it quickly as one beat: 'DON'T'

📖 How It Works

Politeness level exercises. Role-play customer service scenarios.

Learning Strategy

Teacher Recommendation: Self-study friendly

Time Investment: 2 hours

🔑 Signal Words (Memory Anchors)

These words/phrases appear with this structure:

English	Spanish	Example
please	por favor	Please wait. / Wait, please.
don't	no (imperativo negativo)	Don't worry. / No te preocupes.
let's	vamos a / -mos	Let's go! / ¡Vamos!
never	nunca	Never give up! / ¡Nunca te rindas!