Negative Commands

When you tell someone to NOT do something, you use the negative command form of the verb.

In English, it is simply the infinitive with do not or don't in front: do not eat! do not speak! don't suffer!


In Spanish, negative Ud. and Uds. commands are formed by putting no in front of the affirmative command forms.


To form a negative Ud. command, add no in front of the first person singular present conjugation, remove the -o ending and

replace it with -e in the case of -ar verb :

• hablo --> habl -->  no hable

or -a in the case of -er verbs:

• como --> com --> no coma

or -ir verbs:

• sufro --> sufr --> no sufra

The negative Uds. commands are formed by adding an -n to the Ud. form:

• no coman, no hablen, no sufran
  don't eat, don't speak, don't suffer (plural formal)

The negative tú commands just require the addition of an -s to the negative Ud. form:

• no comas, no hables, no sufras
  don't eat, don't speak, don't suffer (singular informal)

The negative vosotros commands use the present subjunctive form, with no in front of the conjugated verb:

• no comáis, no habléis, no sufráis
  don't eat, don't speak, don't suffer (plural informal)

Likewise, the negative nosotros commands also use the present subjunctive forms, with no in front of the conjugated verb:

• no comamos, no hablemos, no suframos
  let's not eat, let's not speak, let's not suffer
  

The use of the subject pronoun is optional, but if used, the pronoun comes after the verb, unlike the indicative tense:

• no comas tú, no hable Ud., no sufran Uds.