In short

Every command except the affirmative tú and vosotros uses the present subjunctive: all negative commands, and all usted / ustedes / nosotros commands. Pronouns attach to affirmative commands but go before negative ones.

The rule

The affirmative tú (habla) and vosotros (hablad) forms from lesson 28 are the only commands that aren’t the subjunctive. Everything else - every negative command, and every polite or “let’s” command - is the present subjunctive.

Step 1 - Negative commands (all persons) = no + present subjunctive. The affirmative tú/vosotros forms switch to the subjunctive when negated:

• habla -> no hables, comed -> no comáis, ven -> no vengas, sal -> no salgas.
• The same form follows any negative word, not just no: nunca des tu clave, jamás firmes sin leer.

Step 2 - Formal commands (usted, ustedes) = subjunctive, both polarities. The same word is used affirmative or negative; just add no:

• usted: (no) hable, (no) coma, (no) escriba
• ustedes: (no) hablen, (no) coman, (no) escriban
• Irregulars come from the subjunctive: dar -> dé/den, ir -> vaya/vayan, ser -> sea/sean, saber -> sepa/sepan.
• In Latin America ustedes is also the plural of tú, so hablen covers informal “you all” too.

Step 3 - Nosotros command (“let’s…”) = subjunctive: hablemos (“let’s speak”), comamos, no salgamos. The one exception is affirmative “let’s go” = vamos (not vayamos); the negative is regular (no vayamos). You can also say vamos a + infinitive (vamos a comer, “let’s eat”).

Step 4 - Pronoun placement. Reflexive and object pronouns:

• Affirmative -> attached to the end: dígame, hazlo, levántate, dímelo, sentémonos. Write the accent only when the stress ends up on the third-from-last syllable or earlier (diga -> dígame, escucha -> escúchame); while it stays on the next-to-last, nothing changes: dime, ponlo, deme, denle, traedme.
• Negative -> detached, placed before the verb: no me diga, no lo hagas, no te levantes, no me lo digas.
• Nosotros drops its final -s before nos / se (sentemos + nos -> sentémonos), and vosotros drops its -d before os (sentad + os -> sentaos).
• “Before the verb” means before the conjugated verb: when the command is an auxiliary plus an infinitive, the pronoun may also ride on the infinitive - no lo vuelvas a descargar = no vuelvas a descargarlo.

Forms & patterns

Full command paradigm (affirmative / negative):

Pronouns: attach when affirmative, detach when negative:

Examples

Common mistakes

• No habla tan rápido -> No hables tan rápido - the negative tú command is the subjunctive (hables), not the indicative (habla).
• No comes tanto -> No comas tanto - negative tú of an -er verb is no comas (an a-ending subjunctive), not comes.
• Habla usted más despacio (as a command) -> Hable usted más despacio - the usted command is the subjunctive even in the affirmative.
• No dígame -> No me diga - with a negative command the pronoun detaches and moves before the verb.
• Dime lo -> Dímelo - affirmative commands attach the pronouns, and the extra syllable pushes the stress third from the end, so here the accent is written.
• Vayamos a casa (for “let’s go”) -> Vamos a casa - affirmative “let’s go” is the irregular vamos; use no vayamos only for the negative.

Tips

• One rule: only affirmative tú and vosotros are special; every other command is the present subjunctive.
• The formal forms are the easiest: usted = the él-subjunctive, ustedes = the ellos-subjunctive - the same word whether or not you add no.
• Pronouns: attach when you say yes, detach when you say no. Dímelo vs No me lo digas; Siéntese vs No se siente.
• The accent appears only once the stress reaches the third-from-last syllable: ponlo and dime stay plain, pónmelo and dímelo take it.
• “Let’s” = the nosotros subjunctive (hagamos, comamos), except vamos for “let’s go”; or just use vamos a + infinitive.