Comparison of Italian and Spanish

The Imperative Mood

Here are the regular imperative endings in Italian:

ParlareVenderePartire
tuparla!vendi!parti!
Leiparli!venda!parta!
noiparliamo!vendiamo!partiamo!
voiparlate!vendete!partite!
Loroparlino!vendano!partano!

Note that the 'tu' imperative ending is 'a' for 'are' verbs and 'i' for 'ere' and 'ire' verbs, the reverse of the present subjunctive. The formal (Lei/Loro) forms are taken from the present subjunctive. The other two forms (noi/voi) are identical to the present indicative.

The negative imperative forms are identical, with the exception of the 'tu' form, where the infinitive is used: non parlare!, non vendere!

The equivalent is Spanish is:

HablarVenderPartir
¡habla!¡vende!¡parte!
usted ¡hable!¡venda!¡parta!
nosotros ¡hablemos!¡vendamos!¡partamos!
vosotros ¡hablad!¡vended! ¡partid!
ustedes ¡hablen!¡vendan!¡partan!

The 'usted', 'nosotros' and 'ustedes' forms are taken from the present subjunctive. Also, all negative imperative forms use the present subjunctive: ¡no hables!, ¡no venga!, ¡no fumes! and so on.

Created October 2006.

Return to main comparison page.