Imperative
| Verbs | Tú | Vos | Vosotros / Vosotras |
|---|---|---|---|
| pensar | piensa | pensá | pensad |
| contar | cuenta | contá | contad |
| perder | pierde | perdé | perded |
| moler | muele | molé | moled |
| oler | huele | olé | oled |
| sentir | siente | sentí | sentid |
| dormir | duerme | dormí | dormid |
Note that sentir and dormir also undergo vowel raising. Additional diphthongizing verbs include acordar(se), divertir(se), doler, empezar, encontrar, entender, llover, morir, mostrar, mover, poder, probar, querer, recordar, sentar(se), tener, venir, volar, and volver.
Many verbs with -e- or -o- in the root do not alternate. Common non-diphthongizing verbs include acercar(se), beber, comer, comprar, conocer, correr, creer, deber, dejar, entrar, esperar, lamentar, llegar, llevar, meter, parecer, poner, prometer, quedar, regresar, responder, suceder, temer, and tomar.
Less frequent verbs of this kind are often a source of mistakes for children learning to speak, and also for some adults:
- rebosar → yo *rebueso, él *rebuesa... instead of yo reboso, él rebosa...
Read more about this topic: Spanish Irregular Verbs, Stem-vowel Changes, Diphthongization
Famous quotes containing the word imperative:
“If the Revolution has the right to destroy bridges and art monuments whenever necessary, it will stop still less from laying its hand on any tendency in art which, no matter how great its achievement in form, threatens to disintegrate the revolutionary environment or to arouse the internal forces of the Revolution, that is, the proletariat, the peasantry and the intelligentsia, to a hostile opposition to one another. Our standard is, clearly, political, imperative and intolerant.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“The political core of any movement for freedom in the society has to have the political imperative to protect free speech.”
—bell hooks (b. 1955)
“To me Americanism means ... an imperative duty to be nobler than the rest of the world.”
—Meyer London (1871–1926)