In a recent blog post, I said that I would tell you how to use the command form or imperative form of “vos.”
And these are basically two (2) rules for using “vos” with commands.
Regla Número Uno: El imperativo de vos nunca tiene cambios en las raíces de los verbos a menos que
sean verbos con raíces cambiadas y “ir” en negativo. That is, the imperative of “vos” never has changes in the stem of a verb unless the verb is a stem changing verb AND it is an “ir” verb and you
are using it in the negative.
I know the above rules sounds complicated.
But I will give you some examples and everything will become clear.
Regla Número Dos. El negativo es igual que el negativo de tú pero con accento en la última síliba. That is, the the negative is the same as the negative of “tú” but with an accent on the last syllable.
But don’t forget the exception to this “regla” or rule that I listed under “Regla Número Uno” that pertains to negative commands using stem changing “ir” verbs.
In the following examples, on the left hand side you will find the command form using “tú” and on the
right hand side you will find the command form using “vos”
almuerza – almorzá – eat lunch
vuleve – volvé – – come back
regresa – regresá – return
pide – pedí – ask for
sal – salí – leave
habla – hablá – speak
And here are some examples using negative commands. On the left hand side you will find the negative command form using “tú” and on the right hand side you will find the negative command form using “vos”
no comas – no comás – don’t eat
no camines – no caminés – don’t walk
no andes – no andés – don’t walk
no hables – no hablés – don’t speak
You may have noticed that in my “negative” examples, I did not give any examples of stem changing “ir” verbs. I also purposely avoided “irregular” verbs.
I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone with the topic of using “vos” with commands.
I am working on a blog post where I will provide you with some easy rules for stem changing verbs when using “vos” with negative commands.
But I just want to give you a heads-up, the rules of stem-changing “ir” verbs in the present tense are completely different from the stem-changing rules of stem-changing “ir” verbs used with “vos” commands. So don’t assume just because you know how to conjugate stem changing verbs in the present tense that you also know how to give negative “vos” commands.
But don’t worry, after reading my next blog post, you will be able to give negatvie commands to someone who you address by “vos” just as easily as are able to give negative commands to someone who you address by “tú” or “usted.”
