The 'Let's' Command in Spanish: Beyond Just '¡Vámonos!'

You've definitely heard it in movies or maybe shouted it with friends when leaving a party: ¡Vámonos! It’s a classic Spanish phrase that perfectly captures the energy of "Let's go!" or "Let's get out of here!"

But have you ever stopped to think about what's actually happening grammatically? Why isn't it "¡Vamos!" or something else entirely?

Welcome to the world of nosotros commands! This is how you suggest an action for a group you're part of—the "Let's..." form in Spanish. It's super useful, and once you get the hang of it, you'll sound much more natural.

Let's dive in!

The Golden Rule: Use the Subjunctive

For the vast majority of verbs, forming the nosotros command is surprisingly simple. All you need to do is use the nosotros form of the present subjunctive.

If the subjunctive is still a fuzzy area for you, don't worry. Here's a quick refresher on how to find it:

1. Take the yo form of the verb in the present tense (e.g., hablo, como, vivo).
2. Drop the -o.
3. Add the opposite ending:
   • For -ar verbs, add -emos. (If you need a refresher on these, see our lesson on A1 Present Tense Regular -AR Verbs.)
   • For -er and -ir verbs, add -amos. (And here is the guide for A1 Present Tense Regular -ER and -IR Verbs.)

Let's see it in action:

Infinitive	Yo Form	Subjunctive Stem	Nosotros Command	English
Hablar	hablo	habl-	¡Hablemos!	Let's talk!
Comer	como	com-	¡Comamos!	Let's eat!
Escribir	escribo	escrib-	¡Escribamos!	Let's write!

Pretty straightforward, right?

The Curious Case of "Ir" (To Go)

So, if we follow the rule, the command for ir should be... vayamos. And it is!

¡Vayamos a la playa! (Let's go to the beach!) is perfectly correct.

However, in everyday speech, you're much more likely to hear two other forms:

1. ¡Vamos!: This is technically the present indicative form ("we go"), but it's universally used as a command for "Let's go!" It's encouraging and common.
2. ¡Vámonos!: This is our star player. It literally means "Let's leave" or "Let's go from here." It comes from the reflexive verb irse (to leave). This brings us to a very important rule...

The Tricky Part: Reflexive Verbs and "Nos"

When we want to make a command with a reflexive verb—a verb where the action is done to oneself, like levantarseto get up—we have a special rule.

For an affirmative (positive) command, we attach the reflexive pronoun nos to the end. But here's the twist: we drop the final -s from the verb before adding -nos.

Let's break it down:

• The verb is sentarse (to sit down).
• The subjunctive command is sentemos.
• We want to add the pronoun nos.
• sentemos + nos -> sentemos + nos -> sentémonos

The "s" is dropped to make the word flow better. Check out the difference with this slider:

This is exactly what happens with irse! vamos (from ir) + nos (from irse) -> vamos + nos -> vámonos. Mystery solved!

What About Negative Commands?

Luckily, negative commands are much simpler. You don't have to attach anything or drop any letters.

1. Put no before the verb.
2. Use the same present subjunctive form.
3. If it's a reflexive verb, the pronoun nos goes between no and the verb.

Examples:

• Regular: ¡Hablemos! -> No hablemos. (Let's not talk.)
• Regular: ¡Comamos! -> No comamos. (Let's not eat.)
• Reflexive: ¡Sentémonos! -> No nos sentemos. (Let's not sit down.)
• Reflexive: ¡Vámonos! -> No nos vayamos. (Let's not leave.)

Notice for the negative reflexive, we use the standard subjunctive form (vayamos), not the special vamos form.

Let's Practice!

Ready to build a sentence? Put your new skills to the test.

And that's the story of the nosotros command! You've learned the general rule, the special case of ¡Vámonos!, and the tricky but important rule for reflexive verbs.

Now you can confidently tell your friends, ¡Practiquemos español! (Let's practice Spanish!). Why not try reading some Spanish stories to see these commands in action?