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More commands, and recognising the imperfect subjunctive
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Negative commands and polite usted commands use the present subjunctive. You also need to recognise the imperfect subjunctive.
Negative tú commands
no + tú form of the present subjunctive: no hables, no comas, no escribas.
Irregular: no hagas, no vayas, no tengas, no seas, no vengas, no digas, no pongas, no salgas.
¡No hagas eso! (Don't do that!)
Irregular: no hagas, no vayas, no tengas, no seas, no vengas, no digas, no pongas, no salgas.
¡No hagas eso! (Don't do that!)
Usted commands
Polite commands to a stranger use the usted subjunctive: hable, coma, escriba.
Directions: siga todo recto, tome la primera calle, gire a la izquierda, cruce la plaza.
Irregular: haga, vaya, tenga, venga. Negative: no hable. Plural (ustedes): hablen, coman.
Directions: siga todo recto, tome la primera calle, gire a la izquierda, cruce la plaza.
Irregular: haga, vaya, tenga, venga. Negative: no hable. Plural (ustedes): hablen, coman.
Recognising the imperfect subjunctive
Endings in -ara or -iera: hablara, comiera, viviera; tuviera, fuera, hiciera.
You will see it in si sentences with the conditional: Si tuviera dinero, viajaría. (If I had money, I would travel.)
Quisiera (I would like) is one too.
You will see it in si sentences with the conditional: Si tuviera dinero, viajaría. (If I had money, I would travel.)
Quisiera (I would like) is one too.
Translate: Don't do that! (to a friend)
- negative tú command = no + subjunctive
- hacer: hago, so the subjunctive stem is hag-: hagas
Answer: ¡No hagas eso!
Negative tú: no hables, no comas, no hagas, no vayas. Usted: hable, coma, siga, tome, gire. Recognise -ara / -iera (tuviera, fuera) in si sentences: Si tuviera..., viajaría.
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