- El entrenador quiere decir: 'Levántate temprano mañana y ve al gimnasio antes del trabajo, pero no te olvides de calentar primero.' Al combinar los imperativos con pronombres reflexivos y clíticos, ¿cuál versión es completamente correcta?
Answer: Levántate temprano mañana y ve al gimnasio antes del trabajo, pero no te olvides de calentar primero.
When working with tú imperatives + reflexive/clitic pronouns, you need to track three things simultaneously: (1) the correct imperative form, (2) whether a reflexive pronoun is required by the verb, and (3) whether negation changes the verb form.
Answer A is correct because each verb is handled precisely. Levántate = affirmative tú imperative of levantarse (reflexive verb, pronoun attached). Ve = affirmative tú imperative of ir — and here's the key: "ir a un lugar" uses plain ir, so ve is correct. Finally, no te olvides = negative tú imperative, which requires the subjunctive form (olvides) with the reflexive pronoun placed before the verb — exactly what A gives you.
B is a classic trap. Vete is the imperative of irse (to go away, to leave), not ir a un lugar. Using vete al gimnasio changes the meaning slightly and misidentifies the verb. The trainer means "go to the gym," not "go away to the gym."
C drops the reflexive pronoun in no olvides calentar. While olvidar can be used non-reflexively, olvidarse de is the standard, natural construction in Spanish. Removing te makes the sentence grammatically incomplete in context and unnatural.
D makes a critical error: no te olvidas uses the indicative (olvidas), not the subjunctive. Negative tú commands always require the present subjunctive — olvidas would mean "you forget" as a statement of fact, not a command.
Study tip: Whenever you see a negative command in Spanish, immediately switch to subjunctive mode — this is one of the most frequently tested imperative rules at the Spanish 3 level.
- La anfitriona le dijo a la estudiante: 'Díselo a la empleada si hay algún problema, pero no se lo digas a los vecinos.' ¿Cuál es la interpretación gramatical más precisa de los pronombres en esta instrucción?
Answer: 'Díselo' combina el imperativo de 'decir' (di) con los pronombres 'le' (a la empleada) + 'lo' (el problema), donde 'le' se convierte en 'se' por la regla de combinación; 'no se lo digas' aplica la misma lógica con el imperativo negativo.
When Spanish combines two object pronouns — an indirect object pronoun (le/les) followed by a direct object pronoun (lo/la/los/las) — a mandatory sound-change rule kicks in: **le and les always become *se*** before any lo/la/los/las. This rule applies regardless of where the pronouns appear in the sentence.
In "Díselo," you start with the tú affirmative imperative of decir, which is the irregular form di. Then you attach the indirect object le (referring to la empleada) plus the direct object lo (referring to el problema). Because le precedes lo, it transforms into se, giving you di + se + lo = díselo. The accent mark is added to preserve the original stress of di. In "no se lo digas," the negative imperative uses the present subjunctive (digas), and since pronouns cannot attach to a negated verb, they appear before it (proclitic position) — but the same le → se transformation still applies: se lo digas. This confirms D as correct.
A is wrong because díselo does not use an irregular stem dis — the imperative is simply di, and "enclíticos" vs. "proclíticos" is a placement detail, not the main grammatical issue. B misidentifies se as reflexive and claims you're "telling yourself," which is a complete misreading — se here is the result of the le → se combination rule, not a reflexive pronoun. C correctly identifies le and lo but then claims "both pronouns stay unchanged," which is exactly what the combination rule forbids — le must become se.
Your study tip: memorize this one rule — ***le/les → se* before *lo/la/los/las*** — and you'll unlock double-object pronoun questions throughout Spanish 3.
- El organizador quiere decirle al grupo: 'Lleguen al aeropuerto dos horas antes, no traigan más de una maleta, y pónganse de acuerdo sobre el hotel.' En el contexto latinoamericano informal con amigos, ¿cuál afirmación sobre estas formas verbales es correcta?
Answer: Las tres formas ('lleguen', 'no traigan', 'pónganse') son formas de imperativo de ustedes, que en Latinoamérica funciona como el único plural de segunda persona tanto en contextos formales como informales entre amigos.
When answering questions about Spanish imperatives in Latin America, the key concept to keep in mind is how the pronoun system differs from Spain. In most of Latin America, vosotros simply doesn't exist — ustedes serves as the second-person plural for everyone, whether you're addressing your closest friends or a room full of strangers. This single fact unlocks this entire question.
That means "lleguen," "no traigan," and "pónganse" — all ustedes subjunctive-based imperative forms — are perfectly natural and appropriate between friends in a Latin American context. They aren't formal; they're just the only plural option available. Choice C captures this exactly and is correct.
Choice A is wrong because it recommends "llegad," "no traigáis," and "poneos" — these are vosotros imperative forms used in Spain. Suggesting a Latin American speaker use vosotros would sound completely foreign and unnatural, not informal.
Choice B contains a false grammar rule. "Pónganse" is correctly formed: reflexive pronouns attach to affirmative imperatives, and the accent mark in "pónganse" is required to preserve the original stress when a syllable is added. "Pónense" is simply not a word.
Choice D misidentifies the register. While infinitives are sometimes used informally as imperatives in speech (especially on signs), this isn't more natural than proper imperative forms among friends — and the question asks about what's correct, not a workaround.
Your study tip: always remember that in Latin America, ustedes = everyone. Don't let formal-looking endings fool you — context determines register, not the form alone.
- La estudiante quiere aconsejar a su compañera: 'No dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy, y estudia en la biblioteca donde hay menos distracciones.' ¿Cuál de las siguientes opciones expresa este consejo correctamente con el registro apropiado y la forma verbal correcta?
Answer: No dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy, y estudia en la biblioteca donde hay menos distracciones.
When giving commands or advice in Spanish, you need to use the imperative mood — and the form depends on whether you're using tú or usted. Since this university student is writing to her roommate (a close, informal relationship), the correct register is tú, not usted. Keep that in mind as you evaluate each option.
For tú negative imperatives, you use the present subjunctive: no dejes (from dejar). For affirmative tú commands, you use a special form: estudia (from estudiar). Option A uses both correctly — no dejes (negative tú command) and estudia (affirmative tú command) — making it the right answer.
Option B fails because estudie is the usted command form, not tú. Mixing an informal no dejes with the formal estudie creates an inconsistent register — like switching mid-sentence from texting a friend to addressing a professor. Option C replaces no dejes with no deja, which is simply the present indicative third-person singular. That's not a command at all — it just states a fact about someone else. Option D uses estudias, the present indicative tú form, which describes what someone does rather than telling them what to do. Commands and indicative statements are not interchangeable, even though they can look similar.
A handy tip: whenever you write commands in Spanish, first identify your relationship with the listener (tú vs. usted), then confirm you're using the subjunctive for negative commands and the true imperative for affirmative ones — and stay consistent throughout the entire sentence.
- El experto quiere escribir: 'Sé constante en tu práctica diaria, pero no seas demasiado duro contigo mismo cuando cometas errores.' ¿Cuál de las siguientes versiones contiene un error sutil que un estudiante avanzado podría pasar por alto?
Answer: Sé constante en tu práctica diaria, pero no estés demasiado duro contigo mismo cuando cometas errores.
When a sentence mixes commands with descriptive clauses, you need to track two things simultaneously: the mood required for each verb and the register (tuteo vs. usted). This question tests whether you can catch a subtle misuse of verb form that sounds grammatically possible but is actually wrong.
The sentence calls for tuteo throughout. The first clause uses sé (imperative of ser, tú form) — correct. The second clause negates a command: "don't be too hard on yourself." In Spanish, negative tú commands use the present subjunctive, so you need no seas (from ser). The subordinate clause "cuando cometas errores" also correctly uses subjunctive, since cuando with a future/hypothetical action requires it.
So answer A is the correct, error-free version — which means you're looking for the one with the subtle mistake.
D is the answer with the error. It writes no estés demasiado duro, using estar instead of ser. While estar handles temporary states, the quality of being "hard on yourself" as a behavioral tendency is expressed with ser. Using estés here is grammatically formed but semantically wrong — exactly the kind of subtle trap advanced students overlook.
B swaps seas for sea, which is the usted subjunctive form — a register inconsistency with the tuteo context established by sé and contigo.
C abandons the imperative mood entirely, using eres and cometes (indicative), which turns the command into a simple statement of fact rather than advice.
Study tip: When checking commands in Spanish, always verify both the correct verb (ser vs. estar) and the correct person (tú vs. usted) — exams often mix these traps.
- El médico necesita decirle al paciente: 'Tome la pastilla con agua, no la tome con jugo, y haga ejercicio moderado tres veces a la semana.' ¿Cuál opción contiene un error que un hablante avanzado debería reconocer como incorrecto para este contexto?
Answer: Toma la pastilla con agua, no la tomes con jugo, y haz ejercicio moderado tres veces a la semana.
When a doctor addresses an adult patient in a formal medical consultation in Spanish, the appropriate register requires usted commands (the formal imperative), not tú commands. This question tests whether you can identify a register mismatch — a subtle but important error that advanced speakers must recognize.
Option A is entirely correct: Tome, no la tome, and haga are all proper usted subjunctive-based imperatives, consistent with the formal doctor-patient relationship described. Option C contains a real error (hace instead of haga for the third instruction — using indicative where imperative is needed), making it incorrect as well. Option D drops the direct object pronoun la in the negative command (no tome instead of no la tome), which changes the meaning and is grammatically incomplete. Both C and D represent errors, but the question asks which option an advanced speaker should flag — meaning it tests register awareness specifically.
Option B is the answer you should identify as wrong for this context. It uses toma, no la tomes, and haz — all correct tú informal commands — but the scenario is explicitly formal. A doctor speaking to an adult patient in a formal consultation would never use tuteo in standard professional Spanish. The grammar itself is flawless, which is exactly what makes this a higher-level trap: beginners might see correct verb forms and approve it, but advanced speakers recognize that grammatical correctness alone isn't enough — register must match context.
Your study tip: always ask yourself who is speaking to whom, and how formal is the relationship? On advanced Spanish exams, register errors are often disguised inside otherwise grammatically correct sentences.
- El estudiante escribe el siguiente párrafo: 'Visite el mercado central por la mañana, pruebe los platillos locales, no deje su pasaporte en el hotel, y tenga cuidado con sus pertenencias en zonas concurridas.' Un revisor nativo señala que hay un error de concordancia en el uso del imperativo. ¿Cuál es el error y por qué?
Answer: No hay ningún error; todas las formas ('visite', 'pruebe', 'no deje', 'tenga') son imperativas de usted correctamente formadas a partir del subjuntivo presente.
When a question asks you to evaluate imperative forms in formal Spanish, your first job is to verify whether each verb is correctly conjugated for the subject and register — before assuming any error exists.
In formal written Spanish addressing strangers with usted, affirmative imperatives are formed identically to the present subjunctive third-person singular. For -ar verbs: drop the -o from the yo form and add -e. For -er/-ir verbs: add -a. Let's verify each verb in the passage: visite (visitar → yo visito → visite ✓), pruebe (probar → yo pruebo → pruebe ✓ — note the stem change o→ue is preserved), no deje (dejar → yo dejo → deje ✓ — negative imperatives use this same subjunctive form), and tenga (tener → yo tengo → tenga ✓). Every single form is correctly built. The reviewer's claim of an error is simply wrong, making B the correct answer.
Choice A is a red herring. Tener cuidado is a standard, widely accepted formal expression — not a coloquialism — and cuídese would mean something slightly different anyway. Choice C introduces a false grammar rule. Including usted explicitly is optional for emphasis or clarity but is never required for grammatical correctness. Making it mandatory is an invented constraint. Choice D spreads misinformation: probe does not exist as a valid imperative in any Spanish register. Pruebe, with its stem change intact, is correct.
Your takeaway: before hunting for errors, confirm that an error actually exists. Exam questions sometimes describe a "mistake" that isn't one — testing whether you truly know the rule rather than whether you can spot a decoy.
- Una madre le dice a su hijo adolescente que complete sus responsabilidades antes de salir. ¿Cuál de las siguientes versiones usa las formas imperativas correctas para expresar: 'Haz tus tareas antes de salir, y no dejes tu cuarto sin limpiar'?
Answer: Haz tus tareas antes de salir, y no dejes tu cuarto sin limpiar.
When a question asks you to evaluate imperative (command) forms in Spanish, you need to check two things: (1) whether affirmative commands are formed correctly, and (2) whether negative commands use the subjunctive mood. These two structures follow different rules, and mixing them up is one of the most common errors at this level.
For affirmative tú commands, most verbs simply use the third-person singular present indicative. However, hacer is irregular — its affirmative tú command is haz, not "hace" or "haces." For negative tú commands, you must switch to the present subjunctive. The verb dejar forms its negative tú command as no dejes (from the subjunctive dejes), not "no dejas" (which is just present indicative) or "no dejas" with any other ending.
Answer A is correct because it uses haz (irregular affirmative tú command of hacer) and no dejes (correct negative tú command using the subjunctive of dejar) — both forms are accurate.
Answer B is wrong because no dejas uses the present indicative, not the subjunctive. Negative tú commands always require the subjunctive, so "no dejas" is not a command at all — it's just a statement.
Answer C is wrong because hace is the third-person present indicative of hacer, not the tú command. The correct irregular form is haz.
Answer D is wrong because sin limpias is grammatically nonsensical — sin requires an infinitive, so the original phrase sin limpiar is correct, not sin limpias.
Study tip: Memorize the eight irregular affirmative tú commands (ven, di, haz, ve, sé, sal, ten, pon) — they appear constantly on Spanish exams and can't be guessed from regular patterns.
- El chef quiere decirles a todos sus aprendices: 'Corten las verduras en cubos pequeños, no las mezclen todavía con la salsa, y pongan la olla a fuego medio.' ¿Cuál opción refleja correctamente el imperativo de segunda persona plural (vosotros) en un contexto de España, manteniendo la coherencia de registro?
Answer: Cortad las verduras en cubos pequeños, no las mezcléis todavía con la salsa, y poned la olla a fuego medio.
When you see a question about commands in a Spanish context set in Spain, your first instinct should be to identify the subject: is it ustedes (Latin America and formal Spain) or vosotros (informal Spain)? This question specifically tests the vosotros imperative, which has distinct affirmative and negative forms you must keep straight.
Here's the key rule: the affirmative vosotros imperative is formed by dropping the infinitive's final -r and adding -d (cortar → cortad, poner → poned). The negative vosotros imperative, however, uses the present subjunctive vosotros form (mezclar → no mezcléis). These two forms are completely different, and mixing them up is the central trap in this question.
Option C is correct because it applies both rules consistently: cortad (affirmative imperative), no mezcléis (negative subjunctive), and poned (affirmative imperative) — all proper vosotros forms for Spain.
Option A uses corten, mezclen, and pongan, which are all ustedes subjunctive forms used in Latin America. This is the wrong regional register entirely for a Spain-based context.
Option B makes a common error in the negative command: no las mezclad is incorrect because you cannot use the -d ending in negative commands. The negative always requires the subjunctive, never the -d form.
Option D mixes registers inconsistently — corten and pongan are ustedes forms, while mezcléis is correct vosotros. This kind of mixing signals a misunderstanding of the system.
Study tip: Memorize the split — affirmative vosotros = -d ending, negative vosotros = present subjunctive. Never use -d after no.
