Negative imperative and imperative with pronouns

What it is

You already know how to tell someone to do something: Habla más despacio. Siéntese, por favor. This topic adds the other half: how to tell someone not to do something, and where the pronouns go in both cases.

The rule for negative commands is simple: no + present subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo), for every person. You've already met these forms with usted and ustedes (hable, hablen); the news is that tú uses them too in the negative: habla → no hables.

Pronouns, meanwhile, swap sides. In affirmative commands they're attached to the end of the verb (dímelo); in negative commands they go before it, as separate words (no me lo digas).

How to form it

The negative tú form keeps all the quirks of the subjunctive: stems from the yo form (no digas, no hagas, no pongas, no salgas, no tengas, no vengas), the irregular verbs (no vayas, no seas, no estés, no des, no sepas), stem changes (no pienses, no vuelvas, no pidas) and spelling changes (no toques, no llegues, no empieces). It can look very different from the affirmative: di → no digas, ve → no vayas, haz → no hagas.

Pronouns keep the order you know from se lo: reflexive or indirect first, then direct.

The written accent. When you attach pronouns, the stress stays where it was in the verb, so the longer word often needs a written accent: compra → cómpralo, diga → dígamelo, sienta → siéntate. A one-syllable verb with one pronoun doesn't: dame, dime, ponlo, hazlo. With two pronouns it does: dámelo, dímelo.

Nosotros. The affirmative drops its final -s before nos and se: sentemos + nos → sentémonos, digamos + se + lo → digámoselo. "Let's go" is vamos, and "let's leave" is vámonos; in the negative, use no vayamos and no nos vayamos.

When to use it

Advice and warnings. Negative commands are the backbone of advice:

• En Lima casi nunca llueve: no dejes correr el agua mientras te lavas los dientes.It hardly ever rains in Lima: don't leave the water running while you brush your teeth.tú
• No tiren basura en la playa; llévensela a casa.Don't throw rubbish on the beach; take it home with you.ustedes, then affirmative with two pronouns
• Si ves a Marta, no se lo digas todavía.If you see Marta, don't tell her yet.se lo before the verb
• No te preocupes: no pasa nada.Don't worry: it's no big deal.reflexive te before the verb

Instructions and requests. Siéntese, por favor. La doctora Quispe la atiende en cinco minutos. Si encuentras mis lentes, tráemelos, por favor. In one sentence, each command keeps its own order: Llámala, pero no le digas nada.

Let's (not). Nosotros commands make suggestions: Hablemos con el gerente. No perdamos más tiempo. In the affirmative, conversation usually prefers vamos a + infinitive: Vamos a sentarnos aquí.

Softening. A bare command can sound abrupt. Add por favor or si no te importa, turn it into a question (¿Me pasas la sal? ¿Podrías cerrar la ventana?) or start with mejor: Mejor no le digas nada. For advice, te recomiendo que + subjunctive is gentler still: Te recomiendo que no manejes de noche.

Contrasts and traps

• No + indicative is a statement. No hablas = you don't talk; no hables = don't talk.
• Pronouns never attach to a negative. No me lo digas, not no dímelo.
• Accent or no accent? Siéntate, cómpralo, dímelo need one; dame, ponlo, hazlo don't.
• Te or se? No te preocupes is for a friend (tú); No se preocupe is for usted.
• Vamos for "let's go". The affirmative is ¡Vamos! or ¡Vámonos!; the negative is no vayamos.
• Signs. Public notices often use a plain infinitive instead of a command: No fumar. No tocar.
• vosotros (Spain). In Spain you'll hear sentaos and no os sentéis: the -d drops before os. Recognise it; in Latin America, use ustedes.

If you also speak Portuguese

Spoken Brazilian Portuguese often uses the indicative in negative commands (Não fala isso! Não se preocupa!), but Spanish always needs the subjunctive: No digas eso. No te preocupes. Pronouns behave differently too: Spanish attaches them to affirmative commands (me passa o sal → pásame la sal) and writes the result as one word with an accent, never with the Portuguese hyphen (sente-se → siéntese). In negative commands, the order matches Brazilian speech: não me liga → no me llames.