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10.2: Familiar commands

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    Tú (Familiar) Commands

    If we want to talk to someone younger than you, or someone that you know well, you use the TÚ form.   In this section, we are going to learn how to form TÚ commands.

    Both English and Spanish have three moods

    1.     The indicative states information or asks questions.                                                                                                                                                                      Estudiamos español.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ¿Estudias mucho?

    2.     The imperative, or commands, to tell others to do something.                                                                                                                                                        Estudia tú.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Bebe tú agua suficiente.                                                                                                                                                                                                                No me digas.

    We will learn the imperative in this chapter.

    3.     We use the subjunctive to express wishing, emotion, doubt, denial, impersonal expressions, negativity, or when we use ojalá.                                                              Quiero que ustedes hagan bien en esta clase.                                                                                                                                                                                Es importante que hablemos español.                                                                                                                                                                                            Ojalá que todo pase bien.

    We will study the subjunctive in future chapters.

    Forming affirmative TÚ commands

    To form affirmative two commands, we use something that we have already used: the él, ella, or usted form of the present tense.  You can use the word tú after the commands, but it is not necessary to do so.  For example

    estudiar                  Estudia.        or       Estudia tú.              Study!

    comer                     Come.          or       Come tú.                Eat!

    escribir                    Escribe.        or       Escribe tú.              Write!

    Many times the word tú is not used because the subject being spoken to is obvious.

    If the command requires a pronoun, it is added after the command. Since we are adding a syllable to the command, we also have to add a written accent mark on the second-to-last syllable of the original command.  For example

    estudiar el poema              Estúdialo.            Study it!

    comer la fruta                    Cómela.              Eat it!

    escribir la tarea                 Escríbela.             Write it!

     

    There are eight verbs that have irregular affirmative tú commands. They are:

    hacer                                Haz.                                           Do.

    ser                                    Sé.                                             Be.

    ir                                       Ve.                                            Go.

    venir                                  Ven.                                          Come.

    poner                                 Pon.                                          Put.

    decir                                   Di.                                            Tell.

    salir                                    Sal.                                           Go.

    tener                                  Ten.                                          Have.

    If we say the commands in this order, haz sé ve ven pon di sal ten, it is easy to remember these eight irregular tú commands.

    Read through these irregular commands a few times to memorize them: haz sé ve ven pon di sal ten, haz sé ve ven pon di sal ten, haz sé ve ven pon di sal ten.

    Does saying them in this order help you? Do you a different way to remember the eight irregular affirmative tú commands?

     

    Forming negative TÚ commands

    Sometimes we want to tell someone NOT to do something. We can use a negative tú to do this.

    There are three steps to form a negative tú command. First, we start with the yo form of the present tense.  Second, we remove the O at the end.  Third, we add the opposite vowel ending. This means that we add es to -AR verbs and as to -ER and -IR verbs. For example

    estudiar        estudio         estudi           No estudies.            Don’t study.

    comer          como            com              No comas.              Don’t eat.

    escribir         escribo         escrib            No escribas.            Don’t write. 

    If a negative tú command requires a pronoun, we put the pronoun after the word no and before the command.  For example

    estudiar el poema             No lo estudies.                  Don’t study it.

    comer la fruta                  No la comas.                     Don’t eat it!

    escribir la tarea                No la escribas.                   Don’t write it!

    There are six verbs that have irregular negative tú commands.  They are irregular because their YO form does not end in an o.

    They are

    dar                                  No des.                            Don’t give.

    ir                                     No vayas.                         Don’t go.

    ser                                   No seas.                          Don’t be.

    haber                                No hayas.

    estar                                 No estés.                         Don’t be.

    saber                                 No sepas.                        Don’t know.

    If we look at the first letter of each these verbs, we see the word DISHES.  It is important to memorize these verbs. And, after we memorize them, we will be able to “recycle” them a couple of times in the future. So, reread and then memorize these six verbs that have negative tú commands.

    Commands are practical and useful.  They can be fun to use and are used in a variety of ways.  So, let’s practice them.

    Prácticas

    A. Translate the commands into Spanish.

                  1. Study!

                  2. Write!

                  3. Sing!

                  4. Don’t work!

                  5. Don’t call me.

                  6. Wash it.

                  7. Say it!

                  8. Don’t say it!

                  9. Get ready!

                  10.Have fun!

    B. Write the affirmative and negative commands for each verb.

    B. Write the affirmative and negative commands for each verb.

    VERBO                             + TÚ                       - TÚ

    saltar                                Salta.                      No saltes.

                    escribir la tarea                 Escríbela.               No la escribas.

    1.  gritar

    2.  decorar

    3.  bailar

    4.  comer

    5.  escribir

    6.  llorar

    7.  cantar

    8.  beber otro refresco

    9.  decir la verdad

    10. hacer la tarea

    11. respetar a tus padres.

    12. leer el libro

    13. bañarse

    14. prepararse

    15. divertirse

     

    C. Write an appropriate command for each situation.  

                 Ejemplo:  En un restaurante mexicano                  Pide tacos deliciosos.

                                                                                         No pidas una hamburguesa.

    1. En la cafetería de AU                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
    2. En la biblioteca                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
    3. En clase                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
    4. En el gimnasio

    5.  En una gasolinera

    6.  En una quinceañera

    7.  En un museo

    8.  En el trabajo

    9.  En Target

    10. En casa

     

    D. Write eight commands for a new student at AU to help him/her be successful.  Use a mixture of affirmative and negative tú commands.

         Ejemplo:     Estudia mucho.

                                   No mires la televisión toda la noche.

    1.

    2.

    3.

    4.

    5.

    6.

    7.

    8.

     

    E. La Música.  The song Vete con Ella by Lucerito uses affirmative commands. In the song, she tells an ex-boyfriend to go with someone else.  The song No Controles by the Flans uses negative commands. In this song, they tell someone things not to do to avoid controlling behavior. Listen to both songs and then pick one.  Listen to the song you picked and write down the commands you hear.  Then, translate them.

     

     

    F. When are commands used? How are affirmative tú commands formed? How are negative tú commands formed? Which is easier for you? Why?  Give an example of each.

     

     


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