Comparative Grammar 5.3. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study the imperative mood and giving commands in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French. The imperative mood is generally used to give commands or instructions in the affirmative or the negative. We have so far encountered the indicative and the subjunctive moods. The imperative is considered a separate mood.

The imperative mood can be used in the singular or plural form and can be formal or informal. Thus, we have four cases:

1. Singular informal
2. Singular formal
3. Plural informal
4. Plural formal

Each of the above can be used in the affirmative or the negative. In addition to these four cases of imperative commands, we will study commands using the first-person plural.

Table of Contents

• 1. Singular Informal Imperative
  • Irregular Verbs
• 2. Singular Formal Imperative
  • Irregular Verbs
• 3. Plural Informal Imperative
• 4. Plural Formal Imperative
• 5. Commands using the First-Person Plural
  • Irregular Verbs
• Level V – Advanced

1. Singular Informal Imperative

To give commands to a single person in an informal way, we use:

In Italian, the only exception is the “-are” verbs in the affirmative, which use the present indicative in the third-person singular form, i.e., “lui/lei/Lei.”

In French, a minor change is the dropping of the final “-s” in the “-er” verbs in both the affirmative and negative.

Here are some examples:

Notice that if there is a pronoun related to the verb, e.g., reflexive or indirect object pronoun, it is attached to the affirmative imperative or the infinitive in case of the negative imperative.

Irregular Verbs

In Spanish, there are eight common irregular verbs in the affirmative singular informal command form:

In Portuguese, there are only two irregular verbs in the affirmative singular informal command form. These are “ser” and “estar” which only have formal imperative forms using the subjunctive:

In Italian, there are a few common irregular verbs in the affirmative singular informal command form:

In French, there are only four irregular verbs in the singular informal command form:

Notice that the imperative of the verb “vouloir” (to want) is an invitation to do something and is often roughly translated into English as “please.”

2. Singular Formal Imperative

To give commands to a single person in a formal way, we use:

Here are some examples:

Irregular Verbs

In Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, there are no irregular verbs in the singular formal imperative.

In French, the irregular verbs are the same as the singular informal imperative:

3. Plural Informal Imperative

To give commands to a group of people, we use:

Here are some examples:

4. Plural Formal Imperative

In Latin American Spanish, Portuguese, and French, there is no distinction between formal and informal imperative. This distinction only exists in Italian.

In Italian, to formally give commands to a group of people, we use the present subjunctive in the third-person plural formal form in both the affirmative and the negative; that is, the form used with “loro” (which is the same as the polite second-person “Loro” plural formal), for example:

5. Commands using the First-Person Plural

Similar to the expression “let’s do something” in English, commands using the fist-person plural express the same idea and can be affirmative or negative. Both use the present subjunctive in Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and the present indicative in Italian. Here are some examples:

Irregular Verbs

In Spanish, the only exception is “vamos,” which is in the indicative and is used to mean “let’s go” instead of “vayamos” in the affirmative.

In the negative, however, “no vayamos” is how you say “let’s not go” in Spanish.

In French, the following three verbs are irregular:

Next: The Conditional Tenses

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