Giving instructions without getting familiar
At an office, a hotel, a doctor's surgery or in any email to someone you don't know, you need a command that keeps its distance: ¡Pase!, ¡Escriba aquí!, ¡No se preocupe!. That is the imperativo formal, the form for usted and ustedes. English has no such thing: Sit down is the same sentence for a friend and for a stranger, and politeness lives in extra words like please. In Spanish it lives in the verb.
Three everyday instructions
¡Pase y siéntese, por favor!
Come in and take a seat, please!
At a reception desk or in a waiting room.
Escriba su nombre aquí.
Write your name here.
At the counter.
No se preocupe, lo arreglamos hoy.
Don't worry, we'll sort it out today.
Building the form
The method is the same as for the negative imperative: start from the yo form of the present, drop the -o and add the opposite vowel: -e for -ar verbs, -a for -er and -ir verbs. For ustedes add an -n.
The forms at a glance
| Verb | yo form | usted | ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|
| hablar | hablo | hable | hablen |
| comer | como | coma | coman |
| vivir | vivo | viva | vivan |
usted addresses one person, ustedes several.
Regular forms in real sentences
Espere un momento, ahora le atiendo.
Wait a moment, I'll be with you right away.
Abran los libros por la página doce.
Open your books at page twelve.
Irregular verbs
Most irregularities are already in the yo form: if you say tengo, you say tenga. Only ir, ser, estar, dar and saber have their own stem, exactly as in the subjunctive. Here are the usted forms; for ustedes add -n again.
From the yo form
Own stem — learn by heart
Irregular forms in real situations
Oiga, se le ha caído la cartera.
Excuse me, you've dropped your wallet.
Oiga is the normal way to get a stranger's attention in the street. It is not rude, even though it literally means “hear”.
Vaya todo recto y gire a la derecha.
Go straight on and turn right.
Tenga, aquí está su cambio.
Here you are, this is your change.
Tenga is what you say when handing something over. English uses “here you are”, Spanish uses a verb.
Affirmative and negative: one and the same form
With tú, a command and a prohibition look different: ¡Habla! against ¡No hables!. With usted they do not: the affirmative form is already the subjunctive, and the negative imperative demands the subjunctive too. You just put no in front, much like English don't.
The same verb, once with and once without no
Firme aquí abajo.
Sign here at the bottom.
No firme todavía.
Don't sign yet.
Salga por la puerta de atrás.
Go out through the back door.
No salga sin el resguardo.
Don't leave without the receipt.
Pronouns and the word usted in the sentence
As with every imperative, pronouns are attached to the end of an affirmative form and stand in front of a negative one: ¡Siéntese! against ¡No se siente!.
With pronouns
Siéntese donde quiera.
Sit wherever you like.
Dígame, ¿en qué puedo ayudarle?
Tell me, how can I help you?
No se preocupe por el retraso.
Don't worry about the delay.
As in an English command, the pronoun is normally left out: the verb ending already says usted. If you do add usted, it goes after the verb and sounds especially polite or pointed.
With and without usted
Pase primero.
You go first.
The normal version.
Pase usted primero.
After you. (emphatically polite)
When you are explicitly giving way.
Addressing several people
Who addresses whom formally varies by region: in Spain people switch to tú quickly, while in some Latin American countries usted stays normal even between acquaintances. For several people there is one fixed difference: in Latin America ustedes is the plural you for friends and strangers alike, and vosotros does not exist there.
Several people, familiar and formal
| Situation | Spain | Latin America |
|---|---|---|
| several people, familiar | vosotros: ¡Hablad! | ustedes: ¡Hablen! |
| several people, formal | ustedes: ¡Hablen! | ustedes: ¡Hablen! |
