Do you enjoy giving orders? Let's study the imperative mood in Spanish so you can do it correctly and guarantee obedience from your subjects. 

Imperatives are phrases used to tell someone to do something. One easy way to give commands in Spanish is using the verbs mandar and ordenar (to command) with the phrases ordeno que or mando que + a verb in subjunctive (2nd person). For example, ordeno que bailes (I order you to dance), or les mando que vayan a la tienda (I order you guys to go to the store). However, and this is true in English as well, giving commands in such way may be adequate for a king or a general, but not for nice regular folks like us. So how do people normally give commands in Spanish? Usually with a single verb, just like in English. Check out the following quote:

¡Pues vente aquí a la cocina, anda, que no sé lo que estás haciendo!

Come here to the kitchen, come on, I don't know what are you doing!

Caption 31, Club de las ideas - Seguridad en internet

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This example shows two variations of single-word commands in Spanish: the first one, vente (come), includes a suffix pronoun, and the second one, anda (come), doesn't. It’s also correct to say ¡Pues ven aquí a la cocina, andate, que no sé lo que estás haciendo! These suffixes are very common but not always necessary: sometimes they point to the existence of direct and indirect objects, sometimes they indicate you are using a reflexive verb, etc. In many occasions they are simply used to add emphasis, as in the example above. Saying ¡Pues ven aquí a la cocina, anda, que no sé lo que estás haciendo! is perfectly correct.

To learn how to conjugate imperatives is a different story. There are basically three possibilities: Informal tú and vosotros (you singular and plural), formal usted and ustedes (you singular and plural), and nosotros (we) commands. It's also important to make a distinction between regular verbs (like andar, "to go") and irregular verbs (like venir, "to come"). For now, let’s stick to regular verbs. We can revisit the subject in a future lesson to learn the imperative form of some common irregular verbs.

The imperative for the informal tú (singular you) and vosotros (plural you) is the most common and perhaps the more challenging. Let's use the regular verbs amar (to love), temer (to fear), partir (to leave) as models to learn how to build these imperative forms.

For tú (you) we must use the same form of the verb that we use for the third person of the indicative:

(tú) ama, teme, parte - (you) love, fear, leave

To create the imperative for vosotros (plural you) we have to substitute the letter "r" from the infinitive with a "d:"

(vosotros) amad, temed, partid - (you plural) love, fear, leave

in the Americas people use ustedes instead of vosotros, right? Well, to make the imperative for ustedes use the present subjunctive for the same person:

(ustedes) amen, teman, partan - (you plural) love, fear, leave

Let's take a moment to test the rules we mentioned above. Is it true that ama is the imperative of amar for tú and also the third person of the indicative (he, she, it)?

Ama a tu esposa (love your wife) - Imperative tú (you)
Él ama a su esposa (He loves his wife) - Indicative third person (he, she, it)

It's true. Now, that you can transform the infinitive form of amar (to love), temer (to fear), partir (to leave) into the imperative for vosotros by replacing the r for a d is self evident: amad, temed, partid. Here’s an example using the regular verb mirar (to see):

y mirad lo que vamos a hacer ahora.

and look what we are going to do now.

Caption 71, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli

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Perfect. Now let's see if the imperative for ustedes and the present subjunctive share the same form:

Teman al dios de fuego (Fear the god of fire) - imperative ustedes (you plural).
Yo dudo que ustedes teman al dios de fuego (I doubt that you fear the god of fire) - present subjunctive ustedes (you plural).

It's true as well. Here are more examples of the imperative for tú, vosotros, and ustedes:

Aprende el sentido de las tres erres.

Learn the meaning of the three Rs.

Caption 21, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje

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Escuchad, escuchad, queridos súbditos.

Hear, hear, worthy subjects.

Caption 24, Cuentos de hadas - Cenicienta

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Pregúntenle primero al corazón, hablen primero con Cupido

First ask the heart, speak first with Cupid

Caption 7, Mennores - Enamorarme Quiero

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A final note: it’s also possible to use negative sentences to give orders. For example: Niños, no coman insectos (Kids, don’t eat bugs). As you can see, the negative command for ustedes (you plural) has the same form than the positive command: coman (eat).  But the negative commands for tú (you singular) and vosotros (you plural) use different conjugations. The negative commands for tú and vosotros use instead the present subjunctive: no comas pan (don’t eat bread) and no comáis porquerías (don’t eat junk food). Let’s transform the last examples above into negative sentences:
 
No aprendas el sentido de las tres erres.
Don’t learn the meaning of the three Rs.
 
No escuchéis, no escuchéis, queridos súbditos.
Don’t listen, don’t listen, worthy subjects.
 
No le pregunten primero al corazón, no hablen primero con Cupido.
Don’t ask the heart first, don’t speak first with Cupid.

Spanish has some interesting forms of negation. This lesson explores one of them.

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In a new installment of the always-passionate series Yago, Pasión Morena (yes, that's its original title), we hear the expression para nada (at all, literally "for nothing"), which can be added to any given negative expression to add more emphasis to it. The construction is simple: you add the expression para nada to any standard negation formed with the word no and a conjugated verb. Consequently, no es (it's not) becomes no es para nada (it's not at all), no salgo (I don't go out) becomes no salgo para nada (I don't go out at all), and so on. Here's an example:
 

Pienso que no es para nada adecuado el casamiento.

I think that the wedding is not appropriate at all.

Caption 32, Yago - 9 Recuperación

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Pretty straightforward, right? On the other hand, Spanish also allows for a different (but less common) option. You can actually get rid of the word no and place the verb after para nada. So, in the previous example, the expression could also be: Pienso que para nada es adecuado el casamiento (I think that the weeding isn't appropriate at all). Here's a similar example from our catalog:
 

Pero para nada es así.

But it isn't that way at all.

Caption 11, Club de las ideas - Pasión por el golf

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In Spanish you can also use this expression as a sort of short negative answer. You can either say no, para nada, or simply para nada:
 

¿Te molesta que lo haya hecho sin consultarte?

Does it bother you that I have done it without consulting you?

-¡No, para nada!

-No, not at all!

Captions 51-52, Muñeca Brava - 3 Nueva Casa

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Now, pay attention to the following example, because no... para nada can also simply mean "not... for anything:"
 

Esto fuera, que no lo usamos para nada.

This one out, as we don't use it for anything.

Caption 67, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli

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Las ayudas pueden hacer muchas escuelas,

The aid can make many schools,

pero sin profesores no sirven para nada.

but without teachers they're not good for anything.

Caption 35, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje

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Conversely, para nada alone (without using the word no) can also mean "for nothing." This usage is not very common in Spanish, but you can find it in expressions such as tú eres un bueno para nada (you are a good-for-nothing).

By the way, you should know that it's possible to combine para nada (whether it means "for nothing" or "at all") with other negative words besides no, for example: nunca or jamas (never), tampoco (either), nadie (nobody), etc. Check out the following examples:

Las segundas partes nunca sirven para nada / Second parts are never good for anything.
Este licuado tampoco me gusta para nada / I don't like this smoothie at all either.
Sal de aquí, nadie te necesita aquí para nada / Get out of here, nobody needs you here at all.
(Depending on context, this last one may also be translated as "nobody needs you here for anything"). 

Speaking of nada (nothing), in previous lessons we have discussed the expression nada que ver (to have nothing to do with, literally "nothing to see"). It's generally used as part of a longer statement such as Yo no tengo nada que ver contigo (I have nothing to do with you). However, it's also possible to use nada que ver as a short, emphatic negative answer similar to para nada that is somewhat equivalent to "not at all," "nothing like that," or even "of course not," depending on the tone and context. Strictly speaking, it's really just a shortened version of the expression no, eso no tiene nada que ver (no, that has nothing to do with it). Here is an example:

No, nada que ver... Mejor no me cuentes nada. -Bueno.
No, nothing like that... On second thought, don't tell me anything. -OK.

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So, how would you translate or, even more important, use the expression that makes up the title of this lesson? Can you imagine a context in which you could use it? Here's one:

Entonces estás enamorado de Sofía. -¡Para nada, nada que ver!
So you are in love with Sofia. -Not at all, of course not!

The word lo can either be used as a neuter article, or as a pronoun. In this lesson we will focus on its use as an article.

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Neuter articles are used to express abstract ideas or give extra emphasis to a certain adjective. As a neuter article, lo is the easiest of all the articles as there is only one form: lo. It can be placed in front of just about any adjective that expresses an abstraction or a quality (or extreme degree of quantity), something that's not a concrete object or person.

Here are some phrases that take lo before different types of adjectives:

lo bueno = "the good part, what's good"
lo fácil = "the easy part, what's easy"
lo mío = "(that which is) mine"
lo nuestro = "(that which is) ours"

Lo + adjective can be translated in English as "the" + adjective + the word "thing" or "part":
 

Y pues, es lo malo de vivir en un país así.

And well, it's the bad thing about living in a country like this.

Caption 68, Amigos D.F. - El secuestrar

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Eso es lo bonito de la gastronomía.

That is the nice thing about gastronomy.

Caption 29, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli

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In fact, lo + adjective generates the syntactic equivalent of a noun phrase. That's why it's also common to translate it as "what is + adjective." In the previous examples, we would have:

Y pues, es lo malo de vivir en un país así / And well, it's what is bad about living in a country like this.
Eso es lo bonito de la gastronomía / That's what is nice about gastronomy.

The use of lo before a relative clause has a similar effect: 
 

Hay gente que rectifica lo que dice

There are people who correct what they say

Caption 39, Calle 13 - No hay nadie como tú

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Lucio, tengo que contarte que por lo que me adelantó Morena...

Lucio, I have to tell you that from what Morena told me in advance...

Caption 57, Yago - 7 Encuentros - Part 14

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In fact, lo can often be taken to mean roughly la cosa or las cosas: 

Hay gente que rectifica lo que dice. →  There are people who correct what they say.
Hay gente que rectifica (las cosas) que dice. → There are people who correct (the things) they say.
...por lo que me adelantó Morena. → ...from what Morena told me.
...por (las cosas) que me adelantó Morena. → ...from (the things) that Morena told me.

By the way, lo can be used before a series of adjetives too:
 

Pero encontrar lo bueno, bonito y barato

But finding the good, [the] nice and [the] cheap

a veces es muy complicado.

is sometimes very complicated.

Captions 2-3, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos

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Of course, in order to help our subscribers with their learning process, we have made the translation here as parallel as possible. But you already know what would make a more natural translation, right?

→ But finding what's good, nice, and cheap is sometimes complicated.
→ But finding the good, nice, and cheap things is sometimes complicated.

There is yet one more use of lo as a neuter article and it's rather interesting. Lo is used to express the extreme degree or nature of a given concept or idea. Here it's best to review some examples: 
 

¿Es que no eres todo lo feliz que desearías?

Is it that you are not as happy as you would like?

Caption 26, De consumidor a persona - Short Film

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Sometimes this lo equates to using the word “how”:
 

Si supieras lo mucho que te amo

If you knew how much I love you

Caption 15, Ozomatli - Jardinero

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Porque ves las gradas llenas, eh,

Because you see the packed bleachers, um,

la gente lo bien que se lo pasa con la música.

how much fun the people have with the music.

Captions 11-12, Los Juegos Olímpicos - Adrián Gavira

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¿Pero cómo voy a perder mis maletas de vista

But how am I going to lose sight of my suitcases

con lo grandes que son?

with how big they are?

Captions 29-30, Raquel - Avisos de Megafonía

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Read more about the use of the neuter gender here.

The short film Con ánimo de lucro starts with a series of commands reminiscent of the John Lennon song "Imagine":

Imagina acabar con el hambre y la pobreza.

Imagine putting an end to hunger and poverty.

Caption 1, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje

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So, what's that word after Imagina (the familiar command form of imaginar, or "to imagine")? It's the Spanish verb acabar, which most commonly means "to end" or "finish." Although we could "end" our discussion right there, we won't because, as we see in this example, the verb acabar can mean different things in combination with different words and in different contexts. But before moving on to those, let's take a look at a couple of "classic" examples of this common Spanish verb: 

Classic Examples of the Verb Acabar

Al final...

In the end...

Nuestro caso no es distinto de otros casos que acabaron mal

Our case is not different from other cases that ended badly

Captions 13-14, Victor & Leo - Recuerdos de amor

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Vale, hemos acabado.

OK, we've finished.

Caption 69, Animales en familia Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo - Part 2

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Now, let's move on to some more nuanced uses of the verb acabar. Although all of them entail some kind of "ending," these variations can help us to express a multitude of English idiomatic expressions in Spanish. 

Alternative Uses of the Verb Acabar

1. Acabar: "to end up"

We can use the Spanish verb acabar to talk about the idea of "ending up," or where something or someone ultimately arrives, perhaps unexpectedly:

y seguro que iba a acabar en la basura, ¿no? 

and for sure it was going to end up in the trash, right?

Caption 49, 75 minutos Gangas para ricos - Part 5

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5. Acabar de + infinitive: "to have just" (done something)

The very important verb acabar de plus the infinitive form of a verb allows us to express the idea of having "just" completed some action:

Isabel Zavala acaba de salir del edificio.

Isabel Zavala just left the building.

Caption 3, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 15

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6. Acabar por + infinitive: "to finally" (do something)/"end up" (doing something)

Acabé por decirle la verdad. 

I finally told him the truth. 

Depending upon the context, an alternative translation might be "I ended up telling him the truth. "

In this context, you will frequently encounter the verb acabarse in the form of a "no fault"/involuntary se construction. You will note that although acabarse is conjugated in the third person singular in accordance with the subject (el tiempo/the time), the indirect object pronoun nos lets us know to whom the action of the sentence is occurring (to us). Let's take a look:

9. Acabarse (to be over)

The reflexive form of acabar can also mean "to be over." In fact, you will often see this verb in quite dramatic contexts, most often in the preterite tense:

Anda, ¡para! ¡ya! ¡Ya está, se acabó! 

Come on, stop! Now! That's it, it's over!

Captions 28-29, Carolina - Acentos

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Other colloquial translations for the expression ¡Se acabó! might include "That's it!" or "That's that!"

Se acabó, yo no voy a insistir.

That's it, I'm not going to insist.

Caption 1, Muñeca Brava 48 - Soluciones - Part 5

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Para Acabar (to Conclude)... 

So, speaking of "being over":

Y colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado.

And snip, snap, snout, this tale's told out" [Literally: Red, red-colored, this tale has ended"].

Caption 65, Cleer La princesa y el guisante

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This common expression, the equivalent of the English, "And snip, snout, this tale's told out," often appears at the end of children's stories to say something like, "And that's all, folks!" On that note, we hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.