gastar Negative Imperative Conjugation
gastar — to spend
Negative commands for gastar use the present subjunctive: 'no gastes', 'no gaste', 'no gastemos', 'no gastéis', 'no gasten'.
gastar Negative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Negative Imperative
Use negative commands to tell someone NOT to do something. For example, 'no gastes tanto en ropa' (don't spend so much on clothes) or 'no gasten el dinero en tonterías' (don't spend the money on silly things).
Notes on gastar in the Negative Imperative
Gastar follows the standard pattern for negative commands, using the present subjunctive forms. The verb is regular in the present subjunctive.
Example Sentences
No gastes todo tu sueldo en el primer día.
Don't spend your whole salary on the first day.
tú
No gastemos dinero en cosas que no necesitamos.
Let's not spend money on things we don't need.
nosotros
No gasten sus ahorros en juegos de azar.
Don't spend your savings on gambling.
Por favor, no gastéis la batería del móvil.
Please, don't waste the phone's battery.
vosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the indicative instead of the subjunctive, like 'no gastas'.
Correct: Negative commands always use the present subjunctive: 'no gastes'.
Why: The subjunctive mood is required for negative commands in Spanish.
Mistake: Confusing 'gaste' and 'gasteis' for usted/ustedes vs. vosotros.
Correct: The usted/ustedes form is 'no gaste' (singular ending), and the vosotros form is 'no gastéis' (with an accent on the 'e').
Why: These are common confusion points between formal/plural and informal plural command forms.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: gasto
Gastar is regular in the present tense: gasto, gastas, gasta, gastamos, gastáis, gastan.
Preterite
yo: gasté
The preterite of gastar is regular: gasté, gastaste, gastó, gastamos, gastasteis, gastaron.
Imperfect
yo: gastaba
The imperfect of gastar is regular: gastaba, gastabas, gastaba, gastábamos, gastabais, gastaban.
Future
yo: gastaré
The future tense of gastar is regular: gastaré, gastarás, gastará, gastaremos, gastaréis, gastarán.
Conditional
yo: gastaría
The conditional of gastar is regular: gastaría, gastarías, gastaría, gastaríamos, gastaríais, gastarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: gaste
The present subjunctive of gastar: 'gaste', 'gastes', 'gastemos', 'gastéis', 'gasten'.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: gastara
The imperfect subjunctive of gastar has two forms: gastara/gastase and gastáramos/gastásemos.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: gasta
The imperative of gastar is mostly regular, with specific commands like 'gasta' (tú) and 'gastad' (vosotros).