Kitchen Spanish: the imperative and the impersonal se
A recipe can be written two ways, and Spanish uses both. As a command: pela las patatas, añade agua, remueve. Or with se and nobody acting: se pelan las patatas, se añade agua. For example: “Pela las patatas, córtalas finas y ponlas en la sartén” — Peel the potatoes, slice them thin and put them in the pan. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A recipe can be written two ways, and Spanish uses both. As a command: pela las patatas, añade agua, remueve. Or with se and nobody acting: se pelan las patatas, se añade agua.
The tú command comes from the él form of the present: hablas → habla, añades → añade. Eight common verbs do it their own way, and all are short: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven.
The trap is the negative, which uses a different form altogether. Añade sal, but no añadas sal. Pon la tapa, but no pongas la tapa. A bare no in front is not enough.
Pronouns stick to the end of a command as one word: caliéntalo, pásamelo. In a negative command they move in front: no lo calientes.
Table
| form | affirmative | negative | with a pronoun |
|---|---|---|---|
| tú | añade | no añadas | añádelo |
| usted | añada | no añada | añádalo |
| vosotros | añadid | no añadáis | añadidlo |
| ustedes | añadan | no añadan | añádanlo |
| tú (irregular) | pon, haz, ten, ven | no pongas, no hagas | ponlo, hazlo |
| impersonal | se añade | no se añade | — |
By example
- Pela las patatas, córtalas finas y ponlas en la sarténPeel the potatoes, slice them thin and put them in the pan
- No añadas la sal al principio, se pone duraDon't add the salt at the start — it goes tough
- Primero se baten los huevos y luego se añade la cebollaFirst the eggs are beaten, and then the onion is added
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Kitchen Spanish: how does it work in Spanish?
A recipe can be written two ways, and Spanish uses both. As a command: pela las patatas, añade agua, remueve. Or with se and nobody acting: se pelan las patatas, se añade agua.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Pela las patatas, córtalas finas y ponlas en la sartén” — Peel the potatoes, slice them thin and put them in the pan. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.