The Spanish imperative is crucial to giving commands or instructions. To help you practice the imperative conjugations, in this quiz, you’ll find 15 fill-in-the-blank sentences. Your task is to conjugate the given verb to complete the statement.
Heads-up: as part of their conjugation, some verbs are accompanied by a direct or indirect object pronoun. If you need to refresh your memory, you can check my Spanish imperative guide before taking this quiz.
(Tú) (dar / me) las llaves.
Give me the keys.
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Explanation: Indirect object pronouns must be attached to affirmative commands in Spanish.
(Ustedes) No (abrir) la puerta.
Don’t open the door.
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Explanation: Negative plural commands are conjugated based on the third-person plural form of the present subjunctive. In other words, the plural imperative ending for -IR verbs is ‘-an’.
(Usted) (leer) las instrucciones con cuidado.
Read the instructions carefully.
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Explanation: The imperative ending for ‘usted’ -ER verbs is ‘a’. These are the same endings you use to conjugate ‘usted’ to the present subjunctive.
(Ustedes) (escribir) su nombre completo.
Write your full name.
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Explanation: The imperative conjugations for ustedes are based on the present tense. To form the imperative, we change endings: the imperative endings for -IR verbs are the same as the present endings for -AR verbs. So, in this case, ‘escriban’ is the correct answer.
(Tú) (ser) más amable con la gente.
Be nicer to people.
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Explanation: The imperative form of ‘ser’ is irregular. For informal singular command (tú), ser becomes ‘sé’.
(Ustedes) No (ser) groseros.
Don’t be rude, guys.
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Explanation: Ser is an irregular verb in the imperative form. Sean is the form for ‘ustedes’.
(Vosotros) (lavar) los trastes, por favor.
Wash the dishes, guys.
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Explanation: The affirmative imperative of ‘vosotros’ is formed by removing the ‘r’ from the infinitive form and replacing it with ‘d’. As a result, lavar becomes lavad.
(Ustedes) (limpiar) su cuarto.
Clean your room, guys.
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Explanation: When giving commands to a group of people, we use the imperative form of ‘ustedes’.
(Tú) (sacar) la basura, por favor.
Take the trash out, please.
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Explanation: Informal singular commands can be formed by taking the present tense conjugation for ‘tú’ and removing the ‘s’ from its ending. As a result, saca is the right answer for this example.
¡(Tú) (callarse)! No me dejas oír.
Shut up! I can’t hear.
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Reflexive verbs also have an imperative form. However, with affirmative commands, the reflexive pronoun must be attached to the conjugated verb, and you must add an accent mark to the stressed syllable. Since the reflexive pronoun for ‘tú’ is ‘te’ the correct answer is cállate.
(Usted) (cerrar) las ventanas, por favor.
Close the windows, please.
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Explanation: The affirmative imperative reflects spelling changes from the present tense. Since ‘cerrar’ is a stem-changing verb in the present tense, the correct answer for this example is cierre.
(Ustedes) (sentarse), por favor.
Please, sit, guys.
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Explanation: When forming the affirmative imperative of a reflexive verb, you must attach the pronoun at the end of the verb. You also need to keep in mind any spelling changes the verb may have, which is the case for ‘sentar’. As a result, siéntense is the correct answer for this question.
(Tú) No (decir / le) nada a tu hermana.
Don’t say anything to your sister.
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Explanation: With negative commands, you must place the pronouns before the conjugated verb. So, no le digas is the correct answer.
(Vosotros) No (hablar) en clase.
Don’t speak in class, guys.
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Explanation: With negative commands, the endings for ‘vosotros’ are ‘-éis’ and ‘-áis’, for -AR and -ER/-IR verbs, respectively. Therefore, the correct answer is ‘habléis’.
(Tú) No (olvidar) tus llaves.
Don’t forget your keys.
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Explanation: Negative informal commands (tú) are formed by adding an ‘s’ to the imperative endings of ‘usted’. As a result, the correct answer for this example is no olvides.
Quiz Results
| Question | Answer Given | Correct Answer | |
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| (Tú) ____ (dar / me) las llaves. | |||
| (Ustedes) No _____ (abrir) la puerta. | |||
| (Usted) _____ (leer) las instrucciones con cuidado. | |||
| (Ustedes) _____ (escribir) su nombre completo. | |||
| (Tú) ______ (ser) más amable con la gente. | |||
| (Ustedes) No ______ (ser) groseros. | |||
| (Vosotros) _______ (lavar) los trastes, por favor. | |||
| (Ustedes) ______ (limpiar) su cuarto. | |||
| (Tú) ______ (sacar) la basura, por favor. | |||
| ¡(Tú)______ (callarse)! No me dejas oír. | |||
| (Usted) ______ (cerrar) las ventanas, por favor. | |||
| (Ustedes)_____ (sentarse), por favor. | |||
| (Tú) No _______ (decir / le) nada a tu hermana. | |||
| (Vosotros) No _____ (hablar) en clase. | |||
| (Tú) No ______ (olvidar) tus llaves. |