merecer Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
merecer — to deserve
The imperative uses 'merece' for tú and 'merezca' for formal commands.
merecer Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
While rare in direct commands (you can't easily order someone to 'deserve'), it's used in poetic or encouraging contexts.
Notes on merecer in the Affirmative Imperative
The 'tú' form is regular (merece), but the 'usted' and 'nosotros' forms use the irregular 'merezc-' stem.
Example Sentences
Merece lo mejor, no te conformes.
Deserve the best, don't settle.
tú
Merezca el respeto de sus colegas con su trabajo.
Deserve the respect of your colleagues with your work.
usted
Merezcamos esta victoria jugando limpio.
Let's deserve this victory by playing fair.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'mereced' in Latin America.
Correct: merezcan (for ustedes).
Why: 'Mereced' is only used in Spain for the 'vosotros' command.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: merezco
Merecer is irregular in the first person (yo merezco), while the other forms follow regular -er patterns.
Preterite
yo: merecí
Merecer is regular in the preterite: merecí, mereciste, mereció, merecimos, merecisteis, merecieron.
Imperfect
yo: merecía
Merecer is regular in the imperfect: merecía, merecías, merecía, merecíamos, merecíais, merecían.
Future
yo: mereceré
The future of merecer is regular: mereceré, merecerás, merecerá, mereceremos, mereceréis, merecerán.
Conditional
yo: merecería
The conditional of merecer is regular: merecería, merecerías, merecería, mereceríamos, mereceríais, merecerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: merezca
The present subjunctive uses the 'merezc-' stem for all persons.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mereciera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the stem 'merecie-': mereciera, merecieras, mereciera, mereciéramos, merecierais, merecieran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no merezcas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms with 'no'.