contratar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
contratar — to hire
The affirmative imperative commands are: contrata (tú), contrate (usted), contratad (vosotros), contraten (ustedes).
contratar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to give direct orders to hire someone or book a service.
Notes on contratar in the Affirmative Imperative
The 'tú' form is identical to the third-person singular present indicative.
Example Sentences
Contrata a ese chico, es muy bueno.
Hire that guy; he's very good.
tú
Contraten el servicio de limpieza hoy.
Hire the cleaning service today.
ustedes
Contratemos a un guía.
Let's hire a guide.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'contratar' for the plural command in Spain.
Correct: contratad
Why: The informal plural command (vosotros) ends in -d, not -r.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: contrato
The present tense of contratar is regular: contrato, contratas, contrata, contratamos, contratáis, contratan.
Preterite
yo: contraté
The preterite of contratar is regular: contraté, contrataste, contrató, contratamos, contratasteis, contrataron.
Imperfect
yo: contrataba
The imperfect of contratar is regular: contrataba, contratabas, contrataba, contratábamos, contratabais, contrataban.
Future
yo: contrataré
The future of contratar is regular: contrataré, contratarás, contratará, contrataremos, contrataréis, contratarán.
Conditional
yo: contrataría
The conditional of contratar is regular: contrataría, contratarías, contrataría, contrataríamos, contrataríais, contratarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: contrate
The present subjunctive of contratar is regular: contrate, contrates, contrate, contratemos, contratéis, contraten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: contratara
The imperfect subjunctive of contratar uses the -ra endings: contratara, contrataras, contratara, contratáramos, contratarais, contrataran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no contrates
The negative imperative uses 'no' + present subjunctive: no contrates, no contrate, no contratemos, no contratéis, no contraten.