distinguir Negative Imperative Conjugation
distinguir — to tell apart
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no distingas, no distinga, no distingamos, no distingáis, no distingan.
distinguir Negative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Negative Imperative
Use this to tell someone NOT to distinguish or differentiate, perhaps when they are overthinking.
Notes on distinguir in the Negative Imperative
Like the present subjunctive, these forms drop the 'u' to keep the 'g' sound hard before the 'a'.
Example Sentences
No distingas entre amigos y familia aquí.
Don't distinguish between friends and family here.
tú
No distingamos a los alumnos por sus notas.
Let's not distinguish students by their grades.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'no distingue' for a negative tú command.
Correct: no distingas
Why: Negative commands must use the subjunctive forms, never the indicative 'tú' form.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: distingo
The present of distinguir is mostly regular, but the 'yo' form changes to 'distingo' to keep the sound right.
Preterite
yo: distinguí
Distinguir is completely regular in the preterite: distinguí, distinguiste, distinguió, distinguimos, distinguisteis, distinguieron.
Imperfect
yo: distinguía
The imperfect of distinguir is regular: distinguía, distinguías, distinguía, distinguíamos, distinguíais, distinguían.
Future
yo: distinguiré
The future of distinguir is regular: just add the endings to the infinitive (distinguiré).
Conditional
yo: distinguiría
The conditional of distinguir is regular: añadiría, añadirías... wait, I mean: distinguiría, distinguirías, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: distinga
The present subjunctive follows the 'yo' form change: distinga, distingas, distinga, distingamos, distingáis, distingan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: distinguiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the preterite stem: distinguiera, distinguieras, distinguiera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: distingue
Give commands to distinguish: distingue (tú), distinga (usted), distingamos (nosotros), distinguid (vosotros), distingan (ustedes).