{"id":143473,"date":"2023-01-13T15:53:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T20:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/negative-commands-in-spanish\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T20:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T00:01:11","slug":"negative-commands-in-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/negative-commands-in-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Negative Commands in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning to form negative commands in Spanish is important for effective communication, whether you’re politely correcting someone or giving clear instructions. To do this you’ll need to learn the subjunctive mood<\/a>, a key grammatical concept that might initially seem challenging but becomes easier with practice.<\/p>\n

We’ll break down the rules step by step, explain common mistakes and provide examples for different scenarios and pronouns. By the end, you should feel confident using negative commands in everyday conversations.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When and Why to Use Negative Commands<\/h2>\n

Negative Spanish commands<\/a> are perfect for when you need to tell someone not to do something directly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They’re great, for example, when you need to order someone to knock off some behavior:<\/p>\n

\u00a1No fumes aqu\u00ed!<\/em>\u00a0(Don’t smoke here!)<\/p>\n

\u00a1No toques eso!<\/em>\u00a0(Don’t touch that!)<\/p>\n

But they can also come up in regular conversations\u00a0when you’re being less overtly bossy:<\/p>\n

\u00a1No me digas! <\/em>(That’s amazing! \/ You don’t say! \/ Literally, “Don’t tell me!”)<\/p>\n

In short, you’ll need these for important, urgent situations and as part of regular conversational Spanish.<\/p>\n

How to Form Negative Commands in Spanish<\/h2>\n

So you\u2019ve already shed some tears trying to master the regular and irregular subjunctive present tense<\/a>? The good news is\u00a0that Spanish negative commands use the exact same forms.\u00a0Simply precede the subjunctive form of the verb with \u201cno\u201d and you have a negative command!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you need a quick refresher, here’s how we form the subjunctive\u2014and negative commands\u2014in four easy steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take your verb.<\/li>\n
  2. Remove the -ar<\/em>, -er<\/em> or -ir<\/em> ending.<\/li>\n
  3. If it’s an -ar <\/em>verb, add<\/strong> an\u00a0-er <\/em>ending. If it’s an -er<\/em> or -ir <\/em>verb, add<\/strong> an -ar <\/em>ending. (And use the conjugation for the same person<\/strong>. If you’re speaking in second person singular, add that ending for the second person singular.)<\/li>\n
  4. Add no <\/em>before the verb to make it a negative command.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, bailas <\/em>is how you’d say “you dance.” If you want to tell your friend not to dance, you’d change bailas <\/strong><\/em>to no<\/strong> bailes<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

    For example:<\/p>\n

    bailas \u2192 <\/em>bail <\/em>\u2192 bailes <\/strong><\/em>\u2192 no<\/strong> bailes<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    So, if you hear an –ar<\/em> verb conjugated with an –e <\/em>ending\u00a0(-es, -e, -emos, -\u00e9is, -en)<\/em>, and it’s preceded by the word no,\u00a0<\/i>that’s a good clue\u00a0that you’re being told not<\/em> to do something.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    For –er<\/em> and –ir<\/em> verbs, be aware that the same thing might happen when you hear an –a <\/em>ending<\/strong> (-as, -a, -a, -\u00e1is, -an)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    You can see examples of these throughout this post. It’s worth at least being aware of this usage even if you’re not ready to tackle memorizing them yet.<\/p>\n

    Negative Commands with T<\/em>\u00fa<\/em><\/h3>\n

    The\u00a0subjunctive t\u00fa<\/em> form for\u00a0hablar<\/em> (to speak) is\u00a0hables<\/em>, so that’s also our negative command form.<\/p>\n

    No hables<\/strong> con ella<\/em>. (Don’t speak to her.)<\/p>\n

    Negative Commands with U<\/em>sted<\/i><\/h3>\n

    To order around someone you know more formally, use the subjunctive usted<\/em> form.<\/p>\n

    For example:<\/p>\n

    No diga<\/strong> la verdad<\/em>. (Don’t tell the truth.)<\/p>\n

    Negative Commands with N<\/em>osotros<\/i><\/h3>\n

    This exists in Spanish grammar texts, but I haven’t heard it much in conversation. How often does one say, “Let’s all not<\/em> do something”?<\/p>\n

    Still, if such a situation should arise, you can\u00a0take a verb like\u00a0hacer\u00a0<\/em>(to do), put it in the subjunctive form\u00a0and make a negative sentence:<\/p>\n

    No lo hagamos<\/strong> as\u00ed.<\/i>\u00a0(Let’s not do it like that.)<\/p>\n

    Negative Commands with V<\/em>osotros<\/i><\/h3>\n

    You’ll use this if you’re telling a group of Spaniards what not to do.<\/p>\n

    The subjunctive vosotros<\/em>\u00a0form of hacer<\/em> (to do\/to make) is\u00a0hag\u00e1is.<\/em><\/p>\n

    If you imagine that you’re confronting a group of boisterous Spaniards singing in the street at three a.m., you may want to say something like:<\/p>\n

    No hag\u00e1is<\/strong> tanto ruido. <\/em>(Don’t make so much noise.)<\/p>\n

    Negative Commands with U<\/em>stedes<\/i><\/h3>\n

    To tell a group of people what to do in a more formal situation (or also in an informal situation in the Americas), use the\u00a0ustedes\u00a0<\/em>form.<\/p>\n

    For example:<\/p>\n

    No entren<\/strong> aqu\u00ed.<\/em>\u00a0(Don’t enter here.)<\/p>\n

    How to Use Object Pronouns with Negative Commands<\/h2>\n

    In commands, you don’t use the subject<\/em> pronouns (notice how\u00a0t\u00fa<\/em>, vosotros<\/i>, etc. were left out of the example sentences above), but you will sometimes need to include\u00a0object pronouns (me, te, lo, la, le, nos,\u00a0<\/em>etc.).<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Remember that object pronouns replace the names of the person or thing(s) receiving the verb’s action.<\/p>\n

    These get placed directly before<\/em> the verb in negative commands,<\/strong> and as usual, the order for pronouns is reflexive, indirect, direct (the acronym RID\u00a0<\/em>can help you remember).<\/p>\n

    For example:<\/p>\n

    \u00a1No\u00a0te<\/strong> vayas!<\/em> (Don’t leave!)<\/p>\n

    No lo<\/strong> mires<\/em>. (Don’t watch\u00a0it.)<\/p>\n

    No le<\/strong> digas nada<\/em>. (Don’t tell her\/him anything.)<\/p>\n

    No nos\u00a0lo<\/strong> compres<\/em>. (Don’t buy it for us.)<\/p>\n

    These patterns take time to get used to, but the best way to get better is by speaking with native speakers and hearing them talk\u2014a lot.<\/p>\n

    Luckily, you don’t need a plane ticket to do this. Download a language exchange app<\/a> to make native-speaker friends, watch tons of Spanish media or use an immersion learning program like FluentU<\/a>.

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