pagar Negative Imperative Conjugation
pagar — to pay
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive: no pagues, no pague, no paguemos.
pagar Negative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Negative Imperative
Use this to tell someone NOT to pay for something (e.g., 'Don't pay him yet!').
Notes on pagar in the Negative Imperative
Just like the present subjunctive, all negative commands for pagar require the 'gu' spelling change.
Example Sentences
No pagues todavía, espera a ver el producto.
Don't pay yet, wait to see the product.
tú
No paguen con billetes grandes.
Don't pay with large bills.
No pague el servicio si no está satisfecho.
Don't pay for the service if you aren't satisfied.
usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'no paga' for a command.
Correct: no pagues
Why: Negative commands must use the subjunctive form, not the indicative 'paga'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: pago
Pagar is fully regular in the present tense: pago, pagas, paga, pagamos, pagáis, pagan.
Preterite
yo: pagué
The preterite of pagar has a spelling change in the first person (pagué) to keep the hard 'g' sound.
Imperfect
yo: pagaba
The imperfect of pagar is regular: pagaba, pagabas, pagaba, pagábamos, pagabais, pagaban.
Future
yo: pagaré
The future of pagar is regular: add endings to the full infinitive (pagaré, pagarás, etc.).
Conditional
yo: pagaría
The conditional of pagar is regular: add -ía endings to the infinitive (pagaría, pagarías).
Present Subjunctive
yo: pague
The present subjunctive of pagar uses the 'gu' spelling change in all forms: pague, pagues, pague, etc.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: pagara
The imperfect subjunctive of pagar is regular: pagara, pagaras, pagara, pagáramos, pagarais, pagaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: paga
Use 'paga' for informal 'tú' and 'pague' for formal 'usted'.