Spanish grammar · interactive

Spanish Commands Practice

Di, haz, ven — and then ‘no hables’ flips to the subjunctive. Drill the imperative’s four moving parts with instant feedback.

Practice Spanish commands in real sentences

These Spanish commands exercises cover the whole imperative system in one drill: the eight irregular tú commands, the switch to subjunctive for negatives and usted, and where the pronouns go. Answer in real sentences and get the rule with every answer.

The short version: affirmative tú commands look like the third-person present (habla, come), eight verbs go irregular (di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven), every negative command and every usted command uses the present subjunctive, and pronouns attach to the end of affirmative commands but stand before negative ones.

Try the commands exercise

Choose the command form that fits. You’ll see why after each answer.

Question 1 of 6Score: 0

la verdad.

Tell the truth. (tú)

How it works

1
Read the situation
A real Spanish sentence appears with the command blanked out.
2
Pick the form
Choose the command you think fits — form, register, and pronoun placement all count.
3
Learn the why
Every answer explains which of the imperative’s rules applied.

What you’ll learn

The eight irregular tú commands: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven
Why every negative command switches to the subjunctive (no hables)
How usted and ustedes commands are built (hable, hablen)
Where pronouns go: dímelo, but no me lo digas

One system, not four separate charts

The imperative feels chaotic until you see that it’s really the present subjunctive wearing different hats. Every command form — negative tú, usted, ustedes, nosotros (‘¡hablemos!’) — is just the present subjunctive, with exactly one exception: the affirmative tú command, which borrows the third-person present indicative (habla, come, escribe). Learn the subjunctive once and you’ve learned nearly the whole command system for free.

That leaves a single closed set to memorize: the eight verbs whose affirmative tú command shrank to one syllable — di (decir), haz (hacer), ve (ir), pon (poner), sal (salir), sé (ser), ten (tener), ven (venir). They’re among the most frequent verbs in the language, so they show up constantly; a few days of drilling makes them permanent.

The traps: negation and pronouns

The trap that catches everyone: the affirmative form does not survive negation. ‘Habla’ becomes ‘no hables’, ‘haz’ becomes ‘no hagas’, ‘ven’ becomes ‘no vengas’ — every negative command, informal or formal, takes no + subjunctive. If you catch yourself saying ‘no habla más’ as a command, that’s the rule you’re missing.

Pronoun placement follows the same split. Affirmative commands glue pronouns onto the end — dímelo, levántate, cómpralo — usually adding a written accent so the stress doesn’t move. Negative commands push the same pronouns back in front of the verb: no me lo digas, no te levantes, no lo compres. Same pronouns, same order (se/te/me before lo/la), opposite side of the verb.

Quick reference

Command type	How it’s formed
Affirmative tú	Third-person present: habla, come, escribe
Irregular tú	di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven
Negative tú	no + present subjunctive: no hables, no hagas
Usted / ustedes	Present subjunctive: hable, hablen (same in negative)
Pronouns	Attached in affirmative (dímelo), before the verb in negative (no me lo digas)

Frequently asked questions

What are the irregular tú commands in Spanish?

There are eight: di (decir), haz (hacer), ve (ir), pon (poner), sal (salir), sé (ser), ten (tener), and ven (venir). They’re only irregular in the affirmative — their negatives are regular subjunctive forms like no digas and no hagas.

How do you make a negative command in Spanish?

Use no plus the present subjunctive, for every person: no hables (tú), no hable (usted), no hablen (ustedes). The affirmative command form is never used after no.

Where do pronouns go in Spanish commands?

Attached to the end of affirmative commands (dímelo, levántate, cómpralo — usually with a written accent) and placed before the verb in negative commands (no me lo digas, no te levantes).

How do formal usted commands work?

They use the present subjunctive: hable, coma, abra for usted, and hablen, coman, abran for ustedes. The same form works affirmative and negative — only the pronoun position changes.

Make Spanish commands automatic

HablaCore drills Spanish commands in real AI-generated sentences with instant feedback on every form. The irregulars and pronoun slips you make come back until they’re gone.