Imperative or present
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BobRitter
December 31, 2015, 09:51 AM
Toma este camino y gira a la derecha. Imperative?
Usted gira a la derecha. (You) Turn to the left. You present?
Gira a la derecha. Turn to the left. You present or imperative?
¡Gira a la derecha! Turn to the left! Imperative? Is the "!" the key?
Any definitive rules or just context?
Como siempre, gracias a todos. Bob
Rusty
December 31, 2015, 12:49 PM
Just like in English, the imperative is used without saying 'you'.
So, the one where you used a subject pronoun is a statement, instead of an imperative.
By the way, in Spanish, the subject pronoun can be placed in front of the verb, after the verb, or at the end, and is only needed for clarification in the third person as to who the subject is.
The third example could be either an imperative or a statement. Context is the key.
The exclamation is an imperative.
BobRitter
December 31, 2015, 08:32 PM
Gracias, Rusty,
Es mas o menos como pensaba.
aleCcowaN
January 01, 2016, 04:11 AM
Toma (tú) este camino y gira (tú) a la derecha
Tome (usted) este camino y gire (usted) a la derecha
Both imperatives (the second sentence, subjunctive in the role of imperative)
But now
(Tú) Tomas este camino y (tú) giras a la derecha
(Usted) Toma este camino y (usted) gira a la derecha
present indicative.
The mistake was mixing up toma (imperative, second person) with toma (present indicative, third person, in the example used as a courteous second person)
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