B1 · Requests and commands
usted, ustedes and «let us»
One form for affirmative and negative — and vamos a for «let us».
For usted and ustedes the imperative is always the subjunctive, affirmative or negative: pase / no pase, pasen / no pasen. This is the form on signs, in announcements and with strangers — a distinction English lost centuries ago and therefore has to build from scratch.
For nosotros there are two routes. Grammatically correct is the subjunctive — hagamos, salgamos — while in conversation people mostly say vamos a plus infinitive: vamos a comer. Both are «let us».
The pronoun rule holds here too: attached when affirmative, in front when negative. Siéntese against no se siente; sentémonos against no nos sentemos — and with a reflexive nosotros the -s drops before nos.
Die Form
| usted, affirmative | pase, coma, escriba |
| usted, negative | no pase, no coma, no escriba |
| ustedes | pasen, no pasen |
| nosotros, formal | hagamos, salgamos, comamos |
| nosotros, everyday | vamos a hacer, vamos a salir |
| reflexive | siéntese, sentémonos |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
usted takes the subjunctive affirmative and negative alike.
Firme aquí, por favor.Sign here, please.
ustedes is the plural of that.
Pasen y tomen asiento.Come in and take a seat.
«Let us» is the subjunctive or vamos a.
Vamos a hablar de otra cosa.Let us talk about something else.
Attached when affirmative, in front when negative — here too.
Siéntese, por favor. — No se preocupe.Do sit down. — Do not worry.
Woran man es erkennt
- por favor
- tenga
- disculpe
- perdone
- oiga
Beispielsätze
Disculpe, ¿me puede ayudar?Excuse me, can you help me?
Rellenen el formulario y firmen abajo.Fill in the form and sign at the bottom.
No se preocupe, hay tiempo de sobra.Do not worry, there is plenty of time.
Vamos a ver qué pasa.Let us see what happens.
Noch 6 Beispielsätze
Tenga, aquí está su cambio.Here you are, this is your change.
Espere un momento, por favor.Wait a moment, please.
No salgan por esa puerta.Do not go out through that door.
Hagamos una pausa.Let us take a break.
Oiga, se le ha caído esto.Excuse me, you have dropped this.
Vamos a empezar, si les parece bien.Let us begin, if that suits you.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
English has no polite «you», so the tú form gets used with strangers because it is shorter and more familiar: Firma aquí instead of Firme aquí. Both are grammatical; socially they are not. The difference is one letter, and in an office or a shop it is clearly heard.
usted always takes the subjunctive — affirmative and negative, one form for both.
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