Negative imperative in Spanish

Spanish has two ways of expressing orders. The affirmative and the negative form of the imperative. Here is the negative form:

Lesson outline

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1.Forming the imperative: Instructions not to do something (imperativo negativo)
2.Irregular verbs in imperativo negativo
2.1.Highly irregular verbs
2.2.Irregular verbs in Present (Indicative)
3.Position of object pronouns
4.Exercises
4.1.Practise the negative Imperative Form
4.2.Change the affirmative orders into negative
4.3.Conjugate the verbs in Imperative (negative)

Forming the imperative: Instructions not to do something (imperativo negativo)

The formation of the negative form of the imperative in Spanish is easier than the affirmative. The endings are very similar to the present tense but with a little vowel change.

The -ar verbs have the same endings as the -er verbs in the Present.
The -er and -ir verbs have the same endings as the -ar verbs in the Present.

Personal pronouns	Imperative (hablar)	Imperative (comer)	Imperative (escribir)
tú	no hables	no comas	no escribas
usted	no hable	no coma	no escriba
nosotros/-as	no hablemos	no comamos	no escribamos
vosotros/-as	no habléis	no comáis	no escribáis
ustedes	no hablen	no coman	no escriban

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Irregular verbs in imperativo negativo

In sentences that tell you not to do something and have "no" in front of them, the imperative forms are all taken from the present subjunctive. It's easy to remember because the endings for -ar and -er verbs are the opposite of what they are in the present tense.

Highly irregular verbs

Personal pronouns	Imperative (ser)	Imperative (estar)	Imperative (ir)	Imperative (saber)
tú	no seas	no estés	no vayas	no sepas
usted	no sea	no esté	no vaya	no sepa
nosotros/-as	no seamos	no estemos	no vayamos	no sepamos
vosotros/-as	no seáis	no estéis	no vayáis	no sepáis
ustedes	no sean	no estén	no vayan	no sepan

Personal pronouns	Imperative (dar)	Imperative (haber)
tú	no des	no hayas
usted	no dé	no haya
nosotros/-as	no demos	no hayamos
vosotros/-as	no deis	no hayáis
ustedes	no den	no hayan

Irregular verbs in Present (Indicative)

If the verb is irregular in the first person-singular of the present tense, all the forms in the negative imperative will have the same irregularity,
Example tener:

¡No tengas!
¡No tenga!
¡No tengamos!
¡No tengáis!
¡No tengan!

Here you have some examples of common irregular verbs:

Personal pronouns	Imperative tener	Imperative decir	Imperative poner	Imperative hacer
tú	no tengas	no digas	no pongas	no hagas
usted	no tenga	no diga	no ponga	no haga
nosotros/-as	no tengamos	no digamos	no pongamos	no hagamos
vosotros/-as	no tengáis	no digáis	no pongáis	no hagáis
ustedes	no tengan	no digan	no pongan	no hagan

Personal pronouns	Imperative salir	Imperative traer	Imperative ver	Imperative venir
tú	no salgas	no triagas	no veas	no vengas
usted	no salga	no traiga	no vea	no venga
nosotros/-as	no salgamos	no traigamos	no veamos	no vengamos
vosotros/-as	no salgáis	no traigáis	no veáis	no vengáis
ustedes	no salgan	no traigan	no vean	no vengan

Position of object pronouns

Object pronouns are words like me (meaning me or to me), la (meaning her/it) or les (meaning to them/to you) that is used instead of a noun as the object of a sentence. In sentences and instructions, the position of these object pronouns changes depending on whether you are telling someone TO DO something (Imperativo afirmativo) or NOT TO DO something (Imperativo negativo)

¡No os preocupéis! (Don't worry!)
¡No lo abras! (Do not open it!)
¡No se lo digas! (Don't tell her!)

If you are telling someone NOT TO DO something, the object pronouns go BEFORE the verb.