Spanish Commands with Pronouns Practice

Before you start

This page assumes you already know how to form basic commands. If you need a refresher, work through our Spanish imperative exercises first. Here we focus on one thing: what happens to object pronouns and reflexive pronouns when you add them to commands.

The core rules

Affirmative commands: attach the pronouns

In an affirmative command, the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb and is written as one word.

• Cómpralo. (Buy it.)
• Dime. (Tell me.)
• Siéntate. (Sit down.)
• Hazlo. (Do it.)

Negative commands: pronouns go before the verb

In a negative command, the pronouns stay separate and come between no and the verb.

• No lo compres. (Do not buy it.)
• No me digas. (Do not tell me.)
• No te sientes. (Do not sit down.)
• No lo hagas. (Do not do it.)

Order of pronouns

When you use two pronouns, they appear in this order: reflexive, then indirect object, then direct object. With two object pronouns, the indirect object comes first and the direct object second: me lo, te la, nos los.

• Dámelo. (Give it to me.)
• No me lo des. (Do not give it to me.)
• Cómpramelo. (Buy it for me.)

Le and les become se

When both pronouns are third person, le or les (indirect) before lo, la, los, las (direct) becomes se.

• Dáselo. (Give it to him, her, you or them.)
• No se lo digas. (Do not tell it to him or her.)
• Cómpraselo. (Buy it for him or her.)

Because se can mean several people, you can add a + person if needed: Díselo a Ana. (Tell it to Ana.)

Accent marks on affirmative commands

When you attach pronouns, the stress of the command stays on the same syllable as before. To show that, you may need a written accent. The rule of thumb: if the new word would be stressed on the third-from-last syllable or earlier, add an accent on the originally stressed syllable.

If the command is a one-syllable word plus one pronoun, you usually do not need an accent (dime, hazlo, ponla). With two pronouns, you usually do (dímelo, dáselo).

Usted, ustedes and nosotros

The same placement rules apply:

• Cómprelo. (Buy it, usted.) → No lo compre.
• Dígamelo. (Tell it to me, usted.) → No me lo diga.
• Siéntense. (Sit down, ustedes.) → No se sienten.
• Comprémoslo. (Let’s buy it.) → No lo compremos.

For nosotros commands with se or nos, the final -s of the verb drops before the pronoun: sentémonos (let’s sit down), levantémonos (let’s get up), vámonos (let’s go).

Vosotros reflexive commands

For vosotros affirmative reflexive commands, the final -d drops: sentaos (sit down), levantaos (get up). The exception is irse: idos. The negative uses the subjunctive with a separate pronoun: no os sentéis.

Common reflexive commands

These are very common in classrooms, homes and daily life.

Their negatives separate the pronoun: No te sientes, no te levantes, no te calles, no te vayas, no te pongas el abrigo. To review the verb poner and ponerse, see our poner present tense guide.

Exercise 1: Affirmative commands with one pronoun

Rewrite each command, replacing the noun with a pronoun.

1. Compra el pan. → ___
2. Pon la mesa. → ___
3. Lee las instrucciones. → ___
4. Abre la puerta. → ___
5. Haz los ejercicios. → ___

Exercise 2: Negative commands with one pronoun

Rewrite each negative command, replacing the noun with a pronoun.

1. No compres los zapatos. → ___
2. No abras la ventana. → ___
3. No escribas el correo. → ___
4. No hagas eso. (use lo) → ___
5. No pongas la música. → ___

Exercise 3: Two pronouns

Rewrite each command, replacing both objects with pronouns.

1. Dame el libro. → ___
2. Dile la verdad a Ana. → ___
3. No me digas el secreto. → ___
4. Cómprale el regalo a tu madre. → ___
5. No les des la comida a los gatos. → ___

Exercise 4: Reflexive commands

Write the affirmative and the negative tú command.

1. (sentarse) ___ / No ___
2. (levantarse) ___ / No ___
3. (callarse) ___ / No ___
4. (ponerse) ___ / No ___

Exercise 5: Translate

1. Tell it to me. (tú)
2. Do not give it to her. (tú)
3. Bring it to me, please. (usted)
4. Wash your hands. (tú)
5. Let’s sit down.
6. Show it to me. (tú)

Answer key

Exercise 1

1. Cómpralo.
2. Ponla.
3. Léelas.
4. Ábrela.
5. Hazlos.

Exercise 2

1. No los compres.
2. No la abras.
3. No lo escribas.
4. No lo hagas.
5. No la pongas.

Exercise 3

1. Dámelo.
2. Díselo. (Díselo a Ana is also fine.)
3. No me lo digas.
4. Cómpraselo.
5. No se la des. (Comida is feminine, so use la; les changes to se.)

Exercise 4

1. Siéntate / No te sientes
2. Levántate / No te levantes
3. Cállate / No te calles
4. Ponte / No te pongas

Exercise 5

1. Dímelo.
2. No se lo des.
3. Tráigamelo, por favor.
4. Lávate las manos.
5. Sentémonos.
6. Muéstramelo.

Common mistakes

• Pronouns before an affirmative verb: Lo compra is a statement (“he or she buys it”). The command is Cómpralo.
• Pronouns attached to a negative verb: No cómpralo is wrong. Say No lo compres.
• Missing accent: Dalo is a one-pronoun command and needs no accent, but dámelo does. Check the stress.
• Using le lo instead of se lo: Dile lo is wrong; use Díselo.
• Wrong order of pronouns: Dalo me is wrong; use Dámelo.

Tips for practising

1. Start with the negatives. The pronoun just sits before the verb, so there are no accent marks to worry about.
2. Say the stressed syllable aloud. The accent mark falls where you naturally stress the original command.
3. Chunk common phrases: dímelo, dámelo, díselo, cómpramelo, no me lo digas, no se lo des. Learning them as units makes the rule feel natural.
4. Check your accents against a verb tool. A conjugation reference or dictionary is useful for checking hard cases.
5. Move on to related grammar. Many of the common verbs that are irregular in commands are covered in our guide to the most common irregular verbs in Spanish.