Imperative Mood in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan commands distinguish informal singular, formal singular, and plural listeners: canta “sing,” canti “sing” politely, and canteu “sing” to several people. Affirmative commands have their own forms, but negative commands use no + present subjunctive: No cantis. Object pronouns follow an affirmative command (Fes-ho) but come before a negative one (No ho facis).

Overview

The imperative mood is the set of verb forms used to tell or invite someone to do something. It covers much more than sharp orders: Catalan uses it for instructions, directions, advice, invitations, warnings, recipes, and everyday requests. You will hear forms such as mira “look,” passi “come in,” aneu amb compte “be careful,” and no toqueu “do not touch.”

This topic is normally introduced around B1 because it brings several earlier skills together. You need to recognize verb stems and understand who is being addressed. You also meet the present subjunctive—a verb form used in certain non-factual or dependent contexts—which supplies formal and negative commands. The core system is regular, but common verbs such as anar, fer, dir, and venir have forms worth learning individually.

For an English-speaking learner, the main difference is agreement. English normally uses the same bare verb for one person, several people, friends, and strangers: “Come in.” Catalan changes the verb according to the listener. It can therefore express number and level of formality without stating a subject pronoun.

How It Works

Who can receive a command?

Catalan has no ordinary first-person singular imperative: a speaker does not normally command “myself” with a special verb form. The useful persons are:

Person addressed	Meaning	Typical use
tu	you, singular informal	A friend, relative, child, or peer
vostè	you, singular formal	Respectful or socially distant address
nosaltres	we	A suggestion including the speaker: “let’s…”
vosaltres	you, plural informal or general	More than one listener
vostès	you, plural formal	Respectful address to more than one person

The pronouns themselves are usually omitted: Entra! is naturally understood as a command to tu, while Entrin! addresses vostès. In much of Catalan-speaking Spain, vosaltres is the normal plural “you” in both ordinary and many public-facing situations. The degree of formality attached to vostè and vostès depends on context and region.

Affirmative commands

For regular verbs, the informal singular command often resembles the third-person singular of the present indicative (the ordinary present tense): canta, perd, dorm. The vosaltres form commonly ends in -eu or -iu, depending on the conjugation. The formal forms are taken from the present subjunctive.

Here are three useful models:

Addressee	cantar (to sing)	perdre (to lose)	dormir (to sleep)
tu	canta	perd	dorm
vostè	canti	perdi	dormi
nosaltres	cantem	perdem	dormim
vosaltres	canteu	perdeu	dormiu
vostès	cantin	perdin	dormin

The nosaltres form makes a proposal that includes the speaker, much like English “let’s”: Comencem “Let’s begin”; Anem a casa “Let’s go home.” Unlike English, Catalan does not need a separate word corresponding to “let’s.”

Do not treat -eu/-iu as a rule that can simply be attached to every infinitive. The verb’s conjugation and stem still matter. For example, beure gives beveu, while dir gives the irregular digueu.

Negative commands

Every negative command uses no + present subjunctive. This includes informal tu, even though the corresponding affirmative command does not normally use the subjunctive.

Addressee	Affirmative: parlar	Negative: parlar	Affirmative: beure	Negative: beure
tu	parla	no parlis	beu	no beguis
vostè	parli	no parli	begui	no begui
nosaltres	parlem	no parlem	beguem	no beguem
vosaltres	parleu	no parleu	beveu	no begueu
vostès	parlin	no parlin	beguin	no beguin

With some verbs, an affirmative and a negative form happen to look identical: Dormiu! and No dormiu! The presence of no still makes the second one a negative imperative built with the subjunctive form. With verbs such as beure, the contrast is visible: Beveu! but No begueu!

Common irregular commands

High-frequency verbs often have a distinctive tu form or a subjunctive stem. Learn the affirmative and negative together rather than trying to derive one from the other.

Infinitive	tu, affirmative	tu, negative	vosaltres, affirmative	Meaning
anar	vés	no vagis	aneu	go
fer	fes	no facis	feu	do, make
dir	digues	no diguis	digueu	say, tell
venir	vine	no vinguis	veniu	come
tenir	tingues	no tinguis	teniu	have, hold
ser	sigues	no siguis	sigueu	be
estar	estigues	no estiguis	estigueu	be, stay

Formal commands use the corresponding subjunctive forms: vagi/vagin, faci/facin, digui/diguin, vingui/vinguin, and so on. That is why a polite instruction may look very different from the informal one: Vine demà but Vingui demà.

Object pronouns: after affirmative, before negative

An object pronoun is a short word standing for the person or thing affected by the action: English “me,” “it,” or “them.” Catalan weak object pronouns change position according to whether the command is affirmative or negative.

• Affirmative: attach the pronoun to the end of the verb: Ajuda'm “Help me”; Obre-la “Open it”; Fes-ho “Do it.”
• Negative: put the pronoun before the verb: No m'ajudis “Don’t help me”; No l'obris “Don’t open it”; No ho facis “Don’t do it.”

Catalan spelling reflects this attachment with a hyphen or apostrophe. The exact written form depends on the sounds next to the pronoun:

Pattern	Affirmative	Negative
me	Truca'm.	No em truquis.
yourself	Renta't les mans.	No et rentis els cabells ara.
it, feminine	Tanca-la.	No la tanquis.
it, neutral idea/action	Fes-ho.	No ho facis.
to him/her	Digue-li la veritat.	No li diguis la veritat.
it to me	Explica-m'ho.	No m'ho expliquis.

This differs from English, where “it” remains after the verb in both “Do it” and “Don’t do it.” In Catalan, negation moves the pronoun in front of the conjugated verb.

Making a command sound less abrupt

Grammar does not by itself determine whether a command sounds polite. Context, voice, and softening expressions matter. Useful additions include si us plau “please,” sisplau (a common spelling of the same expression), per favor “please,” and quan puguis “when you can.”

A question or conditional request is often softer than an imperative: Em pots ajudar? “Can you help me?” may suit a favor better than Ajuda'm. Formal imperatives, however, are completely normal in service encounters and public instructions: Passi, si us plau “Come in, please.”

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Canta una cançó!	Sing a song!	Informal singular, regular -ar verb
Beveu aigua abans de sortir.	Drink water before going out.	Addressing more than one person
No parlis tan fort!	Don’t speak so loudly!	Negative tu: present subjunctive
Fes-ho ara, si us plau.	Do it now, please.	Irregular fer + attached ho
Passi i segui, senyora Roca.	Come in and sit down, Ms. Roca.	Formal singular commands
Vine a sopar amb nosaltres.	Come and have dinner with us.	Informal invitation with venir
No vingueu tard demà.	Don’t come late tomorrow.	Negative plural command
Gireu a la dreta després del pont.	Turn right after the bridge.	Direction to a group or general audience
Tanquem la porta i comencem.	Let’s close the door and begin.	Inclusive nosaltres suggestion
No ens aturem aquí.	Let’s not stop here.	Negative nosaltres; pronoun before verb
Digue'm què ha passat.	Tell me what happened.	dir + attached em
No m'ho diguis encara.	Don’t tell me yet.	Two pronouns before a negative command
Agafeu-ne només dos.	Take only two of them.	Attached pronoun en
No toqueu la pantalla.	Do not touch the screen.	Public warning; plural form
Entrin per aquesta porta, si us plau.	Come in through this door, please.	Formal plural command

Common Mistakes

Using the infinitive as an ordinary command

• Wrong: Cantar una cançó! (to one friend)
• Right: Canta una cançó!
• Why: A direct personal command normally needs an imperative form. Infinitives do occur on signs and in impersonal instructions, but they are not the default in face-to-face conversation.

Keeping the affirmative form after no

• Wrong: No beu això!
• Right: No beguis això!
• Why: Negative commands use the present subjunctive. For tu, affirmative beu changes to negative no beguis.

Forgetting whether one or several people are addressed

• Wrong: Obre els llibres (said to a whole class)
• Right: Obriu els llibres.
• Why: Catalan marks number on the command. Obre addresses one person; obriu addresses several.

Leaving a pronoun before an affirmative command

• Wrong: Ho fes ara.
• Right: Fes-ho ara.
• Why: An object pronoun follows and attaches to an affirmative imperative. Before a negative command, the order reverses: No ho facis ara.

Using an informal form in a formal request

• Wrong: Passa, senyor Puig. (when formal distance is intended)
• Right: Passi, senyor Puig.
• Why: Passa addresses tu. The formal vostè command uses the third-person singular subjunctive, passi.

Assuming every vosaltres command copies the present indicative

• Wrong: Dieu-me el vostre nom.
• Right: Digueu-me el vostre nom.
• Why: Some common imperatives are irregular. The ordinary present is dieu “you say,” but the command is digueu “tell/say.”

Usage Notes

Orders, invitations, and instructions

The label “imperative” can make these forms sound harsher than they are. Seu may be a direct “Sit down,” but Vine amb nosaltres is an invitation, and Tasta aquest formatge is a friendly suggestion. Recipes and manuals commonly use plural commands such as afegiu, barregeu, and deixeu reposar. Formal singular forms are also common in customer-facing directions.

Punctuation is not fixed by the mood. An exclamation mark can add urgency or enthusiasm, but a full stop is normal in calm written instructions. Capital letters or repeated exclamation marks make a command feel stronger; they are not part of its grammar.

Choosing tu, vosaltres, vostè, or vostès

English “you” hides distinctions that Catalan verbs must show. Before forming a command, decide whether the listener is singular or plural and whether the relationship calls for formal address. If you are unsure in a real conversation, listen to the form the other person uses and follow local practice. Excessive use of vostè can sound distant in settings where tu is expected, while an unexpected tu can sound too familiar elsewhere.

Subject pronouns may be stated to create contrast or identify the intended listener: Tu, espera aquí; vosaltres, entreu. “You, wait here; the rest of you, come in.” They are not required in a neutral command.

Warnings and public notices

Public language may use a plural imperative, a formal form, or an infinitive. Thus you may encounter No toqueu, No toquin, and the impersonal sign style No tocar, all meaning roughly “Do not touch.” The infinitive avoids choosing a particular addressee and is especially common in short notices. In normal dialogue, choose the personal imperative that matches your listener.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Pronoun clusters and spelling

Commands can carry two pronouns, as in Dona-me'l “Give it to me,” Porta-l'hi “Take it to him/her/there,” and Explica-m'ho “Explain it to me.” The order and shape of Catalan weak pronouns can be challenging because apostrophes and hyphens reflect combinations as well as pronunciation. The placement rule remains stable: the whole cluster follows an affirmative command and precedes a negative one—Explica-m'ho versus No m'ho expliquis.

With reflexive plural commands, forms such as asseieu-vos “sit down” and rentem-nos les mans “let’s wash our hands” are common. Learn these as complete spoken and written chunks. They are more reliable than translating English pronouns one by one.

Commands reported indirectly

A direct command uses the imperative: Tanca la finestra. If you report or frame the desired action after another expression, Catalan normally uses a clause with que and the subjunctive instead: Vull que tanquis la finestra “I want you to close the window.” This is not an imperative form, although the practical intention may be similar.

A third-person exhortation can also use que + subjunctive: Que passi! “Let him/her come in!” or “Send him/her in!”; Que comenci la festa! “Let the party begin!” These constructions extend command-like meaning beyond the ordinary set of addressees.

Alternative ways to express obligation or urgency

Catalan can avoid the imperative by using obligation, permission, or a question. Compare:

• Acaba-ho avui. — “Finish it today.” Direct instruction.
• Ho has d'acabar avui. — “You have to finish it today.” Statement of obligation.
• Ho podries acabar avui? — “Could you finish it today?” Polite request.
• A veure si ho acabes avui. — roughly “See if you can get it finished today.” Conversational encouragement or pressure, depending on tone.

These alternatives are not interchangeable in social effect. A grammatically formal imperative may still be direct, while a question often gives the listener more room to respond.

Variation across Catalan-speaking areas

Pronunciation, preferred address forms, and some everyday verb or pronoun choices vary across Catalan-speaking regions. Standard materials may therefore show a form that differs from what you hear locally. The central system described here—agreement with the addressee, subjunctive forms in negative commands, and postverbal pronouns after affirmative commands—is the dependable foundation. When living or working in a particular region, add the locally preferred forms through exposure rather than treating other standard varieties as errors.

Practice Tips

1. Learn commands in contrasting pairs. Make cards such as beu / no beguis, fes / no facis, and vine / no vinguis. This forces you to learn the subjunctive stem instead of simply adding no.
2. Change the listener. Take one instruction—Obre la porta—and address vostè, vosaltres, and vostès: Obri la porta; obriu la porta; obrin la porta. Say who you imagine speaking to each time.
3. Move the pronouns aloud. Practice pairs such as Fes-ho / No ho facis and Digue'm-ho / No m'ho diguis. The rhythm helps the position become automatic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense: -ar Verbs — provides the regular stems and endings needed to recognize many command forms.
• Closely related: Present Subjunctive — supplies negative imperatives and the formal vostè/vostès forms.