Learn how to give orders and ask for things using the imperative form of Spanish verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hi everybody, this is Alisha. |
| Fernando: Hola amigos, soy Fernando. |
| Alisha: Welcome to SpanishPod101.com. I Give the Spanish Orders Around Here! In this lesson you will learn how to give orders and ask for things using the imperative form in Spanish. |
| Alisha: This conversation is between Ashley and her friend, Alejandro. |
| Fernando: And it takes place at their home. |
| Alisha: The speakers are friends, so they’ll use casual Spanish. |
| Alisha: Lets listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Ashley: Alejandro, ¡ven! |
| Alejandro ¿Qué pasa? |
| Ashley: ¡Necesito ayuda! |
| Alejandro ¡Espera! Ahí voy. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ashley: Alejandro, ¡ven! |
| Alejandro ¿Qué pasa? |
| Ashley: ¡Necesito ayuda! |
| Alejandro ¡Espera! Ahí voy. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ashley: Alejandro, ¡ven! |
| : Alejandro, come here! |
| Alejandro ¿Qué pasa? |
| : What's the matter? |
| Ashley: ¡Necesito ayuda! |
| : I need help! |
| Alejandro ¡Espera! Ahí voy. |
| : Wait! I'm coming. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha: You know Fernando, I’m curious. In what situations can I use the imperative in Spanish? |
| Fernando: Well, whenever you’re giving an order. |
| Alisha: But does it make me sound rude if I use it? |
| Fernando Well, it depends. You can use the imperative and then add please, ‘por favor’, and so on. But if you use it bluntly, then yes, it could be rude. |
| Alisha: Can I use it with anybody? |
| Fernando: Well, actually you might want to avoid it with your superiors, or with someone you’re asking a favor of. |
| Alisha: In that case, what should I say? |
| Fernando: There are many ways to go around it, like “could you please?”, and so on. |
| Alisha: Okay, good to know! Let’s go on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Alisha: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: venir [natural native speed] |
| : to come |
| Fernando: venir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: venir [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: qué [natural native speed] |
| : what |
| Alisha: qué [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: qué [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Fernando: pasar [natural native speed] |
| : to happen |
| Fernando: pasar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: pasar [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: necesitar [natural native speed] |
| : to need |
| Alisha: necesitar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: necesitar [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Fernando: ayuda [natural native speed] |
| : help |
| Fernando: ayuda [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: ayuda [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: esperar [natural native speed] |
| : to wait |
| Alisha: esperar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: esperar [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Fernando: ahí [natural native speed] |
| : there, over there |
| Fernando: ahí [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: ahí [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: ir [natural native speed] |
| : to go |
| Alisha: ir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: ir [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Fernando: The first phrase we’ll look at is.... Qué pasa? |
| Alisha: Let’s see, when do people use this phrase in Mexico? |
| Fernando Whenever something is wrong, and you want to know what it is. Or it can simply be used to say “what’s up?” |
| Alisha: So I can say ‘qué pasa?’ when I order food in a restaurant and it hasn’t arrived yet? |
| Fernando: Definitely! |
| Alisha: What about if someone looks sick? |
| Fernando: Surely! In that case, it’s common to say ‘qué te pasa?’ Like, “what’s the matter”? |
| Alisha: Alright, let’s repeat- |
| Fernando: ¿Qué pasa? [pause] |
| Alisha: And our next word is... |
| Fernando: ¡Ahí voy! |
| Alisha: “I’m coming...!” So this used when someone knocks on your door, something like that? |
| Fernando: Yes, it’s used to assure the other person that you’re on your way. |
| Alisha: Okay, let’s repeat. |
| Fernando: ¡Ahí voy! [pause] |
| Alisha: And our last word... |
| Fernando: Ayuda |
| Alisha: This means “help”. Please repeat |
| Fernando: Ayuda [pause] |
| Alisha: ‘Ayuda’ is a noun. So it can be combined with a verb. For example, to give help. |
| Fernando: Dar ayuda |
| Alisha: In the dialogue, Ashley says “I need help”, which is... |
| Fernando: Necesito ayuda. |
| Alisha: Ok, let’s go on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: In this lesson, you’ll learn the imperative use of verbs in Spanish. |
| Fernando: And by this we mean that you’ll be able to give orders in Spanish. |
| Alisha: What are the rules, Fernando? |
| Fernando: Well, you’ll need to learn one important thing first - finding the stem of the verb. |
| Alisha: And how can I do that? |
| Fernando: All verbs in Spanish follow a pattern. They end in ‘-ar’, ‘-er’, ‘-ir’, one of these three. |
| Alisha: So we find the root of the verb by taking off the last little piece of the verb? |
| Fernando: Exactly, it’s called the “suffix”. |
| Alisha: And then what do we do? |
| Fernando: That depends on whether the verb ends in ‘-ar’, ‘-er’, or ‘-ir’. |
| Alisha: Can you give us an example of an ‘-ar’ verb? |
| Fernando: Let’s use the verb, to pay, ‘pagar’. In this case, you drop the suffix, and add ‘a’. ‘Paga’ |
| Alisha: And this means “pay”? |
| Fernando: Right. ‘Paga’. |
| Alisha: Let’s do another one. This time an ‘-er’ verb. “To run.” |
| Fernando: Correr. |
| Alisha: What do we do for this one? |
| Fernando: Here, you drop the suffix, and add ‘e’. So the imperative is ‘corre’. |
| Alisha: Run! |
| Fernando: Precisely. |
| Alisha: Okay, now how about an ‘-ir’ verb? How about... “To open.” |
| Fernando: abrir. |
| Alisha: What do we do here? |
| Fernando: Here, you also drop the suffix, and add ‘e’. So abrir becomes, abre. |
| Alisha: Ok, that wasn’t so bad. |
| Fernando: Now, another way of doing this, which you can find in your lesson notes, is to remember the second person present conjugation of any verb in formal Spanish. It’s the same form of the imperative form in informal Spanish. |
| Alisha: Oh, really? Formal Spanish, so you mean the form that uses ‘usted’? |
| Fernando: Yes, like ‘usted habla’. |
| Alisha: “You speak”, formal. |
| Fernando: ‘Habla’ is the imperative form of ‘hablar’, “to speak.” |
| Alisha: Ok, that’s good to remember. Now, let’s look at the examples we had in the dialogue. We had 2 examples of the imperative. |
| Fernando: Yes, the first one was ‘ven’. |
| Alisha: And this comes from the verb...? |
| Fernando: ‘Venir’, “to come”. |
| Alisha: Does this follow the rules? |
| Fernando: Good question, because actually... it doesn’t. ‘Venir’ is considered an irregular verb. |
| Alisha: And those conjugations just have to be memorized? |
| Fernando: Unfortunately, yes. The other imperative was ‘espera’. |
| Alisha: Meaning, “wait”! |
| Fernando: This is from the ‘-ar’ verb ‘esperar’. |
| Alisha: This follows the rules. Take away the suffix, and add ‘a’ |
| Fernando: That’s right! ‘Esperar’ becomes, ‘espera’. |
Outro |
| Alisha: Ok, everybody. How did that lesson go for you? |
| Fernando: Be sure to check out the lesson notes for more information on irregular verbs. |
| Alisha: They’ll really help you out, so don’t forget! Thanks for listening! |
| Fernando: Hasta la proxima! |
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