cantar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
cantar — to sing
The imperative of cantar gives commands: canta (tú), cantad (vosotros), cante (usted).
cantar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to tell someone to start singing, like a teacher to a student or a crowd to a performer during an encore.
Notes on cantar in the Affirmative Imperative
Cantar is regular in the imperative. The 'tú' form matches the third-person present indicative ('canta').
Example Sentences
¡Canta una canción para nosotros!
Sing a song for us!
tú
Canten más fuerte, por favor.
Sing louder, please.
ustedes
Cantemos el cumpleaños feliz.
Let's sing Happy Birthday.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'cantar' as a command.
Correct: canta
Why: In Spanish, the infinitive is rarely used for direct commands; you must use the imperative form.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: canto
Cantar is regular in the present: canto, cantas, canta, cantamos, cantáis, cantan.
Preterite
yo: canté
The preterite of cantar is regular: canté, cantaste, cantó, cantamos, cantasteis, cantaron.
Imperfect
yo: cantaba
The imperfect of cantar follows the regular -aba pattern: cantaba, cantabas, cantaba, cantábamos, cantabais, cantaban.
Future
yo: cantaré
The future of cantar uses the infinitive as the stem: cantaré, cantarás, cantará, cantaremos, cantaréis, cantarán.
Conditional
yo: cantaría
The conditional of cantar is regular: cantaría, cantarías, cantaría, cantaríamos, cantaríais, cantarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cante
The present subjunctive of cantar uses -e endings: cante, cantes, cante, cantemos, cantéis, canten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cantara
The imperfect subjunctive of cantar is based on the 'ellos' preterite: cantara, cantaras, cantara, cantáramos, cantarais, cantaran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cantes
The negative imperative of cantar uses the present subjunctive: no cantes, no cante, no cantemos, no cantéis, no canten.