Formal Commands: usted and ustedes (hable, hablen)

Spanish: Los Mandatos Formales: usted y ustedes (hable, hablen)

Level: B1 Intermediate

Category: commands

Explanation

Formal commands are used to give orders, instructions, or polite requests to people we address as "usted" (singular) or "ustedes" (plural). They are very important in professional and respectful situations, such as talking to a doctor, an employee, a customer, or older people. Unlike informal commands, the formal ones are the same in both the affirmative and the negative. To form the formal command, we start from the first person singular (yo) of the present tense, remove the final "-o," and add the subjunctive endings. For -ar verbs we use "-e" (usted) and "-en" (ustedes). For -er and -ir verbs we use "-a" (usted) and "-an" (ustedes). For example: hablar → hablo → hable / hablen; comer → como → coma / coman; vivir → vivo → viva / vivan. Since we start from the "yo" form, verbs that are irregular in the present keep that irregularity in the command. For example: tener → tengo → tenga / tengan; hacer → hago → haga / hagan; decir → digo → diga / digan. This makes formal commands very regular in their formation, because they follow the subjunctive stem exactly. Regarding pronouns (reflexive, direct object, and indirect object), in affirmative commands they are attached to the end of the verb (siéntese, dígame), while in negative commands they go before the verb (no se siente, no me lo diga). Formal commands are the safest and most polite choice when we do not know the person well.

Examples

• Hable más despacio, por favor, no le entiendo. - Speak more slowly, please, I don't understand you.
• Tomen asiento, ahora les atiende el médico. - Have a seat, the doctor will see you now.
• Pague en la caja que está a la derecha. - Pay at the register on the right.
• Firme aquí y déjeme una copia de su pasaporte. - Sign here and leave me a copy of your passport.
• Siéntese aquí mientras preparo su mesa. - Sit here while I prepare your table.