Creating Spanish Commands

Creating the affirmative, tú command form for regular verbs is straightforward. This command form uses the él, ella, Ud. form of present tense. Although simple, sometimes students are confused about using the same word for two very different uses. To help them clearly illustrate and visualize forming these commands, have students work with a Grid storyboard to get used to the process.

In the first column, students should put the type of verb being used in the title block (verb category), and the infinitive in Spanish and English in the body of the cell. Students should target different verb categories for each row, for example an -ar, an -er, and an -ir verb. One of these verb categories should be boot verbs. In the second column, students will illustrate the formation of the él, ella, Ud. form of present tense for the chosen verb. Then, in the last column, students will create a simple scene to use the command form of each verb. In a speech bubble, one of the characters in the scene should use the command, thus practicing the command form, as well as putting it into context.